South Carolina extends baseball stadium naming rights deal. Here are the details
The University of South Carolina Board of Trustees approved an agreement Friday afternoon to extend USC athletics’ naming rights and sponsorship agreement for Founders Park, the home of Gamecocks baseball.
USC’s current deal with Founders Federal Credit Union began in 2015 and was set to expire in 2025. Friday’s naming rights extension runs through Oct. 31, 2035 and starts at $600,000 the first year and increases 2% annually. With it, South Carolina’s baseball stadium will retain the name Founders Park for 10 more years.
As part of Friday’s extension, Founders Federal Credit Union will pay an additional $305,000 for “additional partnership benefits in collaboration with multimedia rightsholder Learfield’s Gamecock Sports Properties, including prominent branding inside the stadium and a comprehensive mix of marketing and sponsorship assets with the Gamecocks athletic program,” according to a statement from the school.
The initial deal between USC and Founders Federal was approved in October of 2015. It was valued at $4.5 million.
The original contract and made South Carolina the third school in Division I baseball with corporate name for its baseball field (joining Texas and Texas A&M as well as the stadium in Omaha, Nebraska that hosts the NCAA’s annual College World Series).
Founders Federal has more than 40 locations across South Carolina and North Carolina. The company was founded in 1950 as Fort Mill Springs Employees Credit Union and currently holds over $4.7 billion in assets.
The Gamecocks play an exhibition at Founders Park versus Air Force at 4 p.m. Oct. 26. It will be the first game with USC for new head coach Paul Mainieri, who came out of retirement after Mark Kingston’s firing this summer. Mainieri is the active leader in career wins in Division I (1,505) and guided LSU to a 2009 national championship as well as a 2017 runner-up finish.
This story was originally published September 27, 2024 at 12:50 PM.
