Van Wagner Lands Naming-Rights Deal For Georgia State August 13, 2020
Georgia State will now have one of the richest stadium naming-rights deals outside of the Power 5 conferences. The Sun Belt school in Atlanta has closed a 15-year, $21.5 million agreement with Center Parc Credit Union that provides naming rights to the school’s football stadium. The contract will be reviewed by the University System of Georgia Board next week, where it is expected to be approved. The board included the terms when it released the meeting’s agenda.
Van Wagner had been in the marketplace about two years trying to sell naming rights to the stadium, which was previously Centennial Olympic Stadium before being converted to Turner Field for the Braves. The GSU football team took over when the Braves left for the suburbs and has played in the venue just south of downtown the last three seasons. In addition to branding inside the stadium, Center Parc Credit Union will be seen by thousands of drivers on the interstate each day — the venue sits at the busy merger of I-85 and I-75. Center Parc is a division of the Atlanta Postal Credit Union.
Georgia State has seen its revenue from corporate partnerships increase since it began working with Van Wagner as its multimedia rightsholder in 2015. Naming rights were not part of that original deal, but AD Charlie Cobb hired Van Wagner in a separate agreement to sell naming rights. At a time when practically nothing is selling because of the pandemic’s effect on business, Van Wagner somehow got this one to the finish line.
The Panthers’ deal would be the ninth largest in terms of total value in college athletics for all venues, based on research by SBJ’s David Broughton, and fifth largest for college football stadiums. Colorado State (Canvas Stadium) is the only other Group of 5 school in that top five $2.5 milllon annually). GSU’s $1.433 million per year is just dollars ahead of naming-rights deals at Minnesota (TCF Bank Stadium) and Rutgers (SHI Stadium). According to SportsAtlas research, Houston is another Group of 5 school with a lucrative deal ($1.5 million annually from TDECU). South Alabama (Hancock Whitney Bank), UAB (Protective Life), North Texas (Apogee) and New Mexico (DreamStyle) each get $1 million annually for their stadiums.
Georgia State will now have one of the richest stadium naming-rights deals outside of the Power 5 conferences. The Sun Belt school in Atlanta has closed a 15-year, $21.5 million agreement with Center Parc Credit Union that provides naming rights to the school’s football stadium. The contract will be reviewed by the University System of Georgia Board next week, where it is expected to be approved. The board included the terms when it released the meeting’s agenda.
Van Wagner had been in the marketplace about two years trying to sell naming rights to the stadium, which was previously Centennial Olympic Stadium before being converted to Turner Field for the Braves. The GSU football team took over when the Braves left for the suburbs and has played in the venue just south of downtown the last three seasons. In addition to branding inside the stadium, Center Parc Credit Union will be seen by thousands of drivers on the interstate each day — the venue sits at the busy merger of I-85 and I-75. Center Parc is a division of the Atlanta Postal Credit Union.
Georgia State has seen its revenue from corporate partnerships increase since it began working with Van Wagner as its multimedia rightsholder in 2015. Naming rights were not part of that original deal, but AD Charlie Cobb hired Van Wagner in a separate agreement to sell naming rights. At a time when practically nothing is selling because of the pandemic’s effect on business, Van Wagner somehow got this one to the finish line.
The Panthers’ deal would be the ninth largest in terms of total value in college athletics for all venues, based on research by SBJ’s David Broughton, and fifth largest for college football stadiums. Colorado State (Canvas Stadium) is the only other Group of 5 school in that top five $2.5 milllon annually). GSU’s $1.433 million per year is just dollars ahead of naming-rights deals at Minnesota (TCF Bank Stadium) and Rutgers (SHI Stadium). According to SportsAtlas research, Houston is another Group of 5 school with a lucrative deal ($1.5 million annually from TDECU). South Alabama (Hancock Whitney Bank), UAB (Protective Life), North Texas (Apogee) and New Mexico (DreamStyle) each get $1 million annually for their stadiums.