The Chicago White Sox announced Wednesday that beginning November 1, the team’s ballpark will be named Guaranteed Rate Field after signing a 13-year naming rights agreement with the national mortgage lender.
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U.S. Cellular bought the naming rights to the stadium in 2003 in a 20 year, $68 million deal.
There are some bad stadium names out there..
Chicago White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton can only watch a home run by Philadelphia Phillies’ Tommy Joseph during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016, in Chicago. The team have won a total three World Series titles in their history, the most recent of which came in 2005. “This is a nice step today toward continuing to fulfill the vision of putting the best possible club out on the field that can be out there for our fans”. The deal was approved by the ballpark’s owner, the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, at a board meeting Wednesday.
The mortgage lender has retained the right to extend the deal to 2030, if successful, although no financial details have yet been released. Millions and millions of dollars, judging by stadium naming rights agreements in other cities, but terms of the Chicago deal weren’t disclosed.
When the state of IL shelled out money for the Cell, there should have been a clause saying it must remain Comiskey Park.
“We talked about it”, Guaranteed Rate President and CEO Victor Ciardelli said. “We feel the fans should decide and the fans should make the decision”.
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So if not Guaranteed Rate Field, then what? While customers might see that as a good direction for their rates, that’s not the way teams want to go.
