Wow. That surprises me. I assumed (and should have known better) that is was a “forever” deal. I don’t remember how much money they gave.
$20 million during the expansion that was completed in 2001, so 22 years ago.
Gonna hang a corporate name on it? Probably. Unless Jerry Jones puts his name on it.
How much could it be worth? FedEx is paying $7.5 million a year for the Commanders stadium. Of course Fred Smith is a minority owner there too.
Citizens Bank is paying about $4.5M per year for the Phillies ballpark.
The largest naming rights for a college stadium I can find is Minny, where a Minneapolis bank has a $35 million, 26-year deal for the Gophers’ stadium.
And in Europe, where stadium naming rights often come with the ads on the front of soccer jerseys, Etihad Airways is paying close to $80 million a year for Manchester City. Of course that is also thought to be structured to evade Europe’s financial fair play rules, and Man City has been charged with violating those rules which could even get them thrown out of the Premier League.
Well…phooey!
My full name is David W. Reynolds…so I liked the fact that our home stadium has been D.W. Reynolds.
A real nice donation can keep it that way!
You’ve heard the phrase “you can’t get blood from a turnip”?
Just call me “Mr. Turnip”
Stephens Razorback Stadium?
Maybe it’s just me, but I personally do not much care for the name, “Turnip Razorback Statium.”
I’ve added some notes (long) from today’s discussion at the BOT meeting here:
I understand the practicality of selling a name to a high corporate bidder, but I still hate it. I prefer the names of individuals on university buildings, fields, etc.
The Reynolds Foundation bought naming rights. It has been almost a quarter-century since the naming rights weren’t sold at the stadium.
I understand that. But i thought it was permanent. I was also glad it was named for an individual who was a longtime supporter of the UA and the Razorback program. Besides, changing the name changes tradition. The change to DWRRS didn’t really hurt tradition because it was an addition rather than a replacement. But like I said, I understand the financial aspect of this.
Let’s hope not. Maybe ARVEST or Simmons … that would be a nice bidding war.
Simmons is pretty strong down in these central Arkansas parts. Does it have much of a footprint in NWA?
I don’t know if Simmons would want the stadium and the NLR arena at the same time, but you never know. I think I’d rather have the Stephens name on it than some impersonal bank, especially given the Stephens family’s longtime support of the program (in all likelihood, it was the Stephenses who kept JFB from going back to Georgia Tech). But money will talk as always.
We all think Stephens is great and it is. But unless you’re in the finance industry you won’t know who Stephens is. No real national name recognition. Maybe that doesn’t matter.
I was reading this thread last night while watching the baseball game, and the little ad board behind home plate at Baum Walker kept flashing “Stephens”. They do that to get exposure on TV. Stadium naming is a larger version of the same thing.
Nobody outside Arkansas, Nevada and Oklahoma knew who Don Reynolds was either.
Simmons has 10 locations in NWA but has become a rather large regional bank. My childhood best friend retired from Simmons a couple of years ago. He was a Senior Executive and led a lot of their expansion efforts. I think Simmons is a perfect fit. I’m proud of my home town bank.
I’ve noticed Will Zalatoris on the PGA Tour has a Simmons Bank logo on his shirt.
They also have naming rights now to the Liberty Bowl stadium in Memphis and UAPB’s field as well.
My friend said they took a flyer on him and it paid off. I imagine his latest contract was for much more $$.