USC board renames baseball stadium to Founders Park

University of South Carolina trustees approved renaming the school’s baseball stadium for a Lancaster credit union Friday in a deal that could yield the Gamecocks $7 million.

The 10-year naming rights contract Founders Federal Credit Union will turn Carolina Stadium into Founders Park.

The credit union is paying $4.5 million for stadium naming rights and $2.5 million in sponsorships and advertising.

USC also has a corporate sponsor for its basketball arena.

The school agreed this summer to extend the arena naming-rights contract with Colonial Life over 10 years for $6.5 million.

The USC deal appears to be unique in college baseball.

Just two other colleges, Texas and Texas A&M, have baseball fields with corporate names, said Kendall Rogers, editor of D1Baseball.com.

Both of those deals were tied to stadium renovations.

At Texas, University Federal Credit Union agreed to pay $13.1 million over 15 years in 2005. Blue Bell Creameries paid $7 million at Texas A&M in 2010 in a deal that runs for 25 years.

In Omaha, Neb., at the home of the College World Series, TD Ameritrade signed a $15 million, 20-year naming-rights deal in 2011.

Founders will get its name onto one of the biggest draws in college baseball.

USC had the NCAA’s fifth-highest average attendance this spring with more than 7,300 fans a game.

Carolina Stadium, which cost $35 million, opened in 2009 — a year before the Gamecocks won back-to-back national titles.

Founders Federal has 26 offices in nine South Carolina counties and Charlotte.

The 65-year-old credit union, a sponsor of Gamecock athletics for several years, opened its first branch in Columbia this summer. The office is in USC’s student union, the Russell House.

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 12:56 PM with the headline "USC board renames baseball stadium to Founders Park."