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SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants finally made a splash this offseason, and while the impact on the field could take some time, the results outside their waterfront ballpark will be immediate.
Redwood Shores-based Oracle Corp. has purchased the naming rights to the team stadium, for between $200 million and $350 million, according to news reports Wednesday.
The Giants are expected to officially announce the name change from AT&T Park at a news conference Thursday. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, which was first to report the story, temporary signage for Oracle Park will be visible around the ballpark immediately.
The agreement gives the tech giant 20 years of naming rights, according to news reports.
This is the third time the Giants have renamed their home stadium since they moved from Candlestick Park for the start of the 2000 season.
Originally named Pacific Bell Park (that original naming-rights deal reportedly was for around $100 million over 24 years) it became SBC Park in 2003. Then it became AT&T Park in 2006. That’s the name of the stadium that saw the Giants win three World Series titles in five years and Barry Bonds break Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record.
According to the Chronicle, AT&T Inc. held the rights through next season, but gave the team a chance to opt out a year early if it could secure a new partner. Giants president and CEO Larry Baer told the Chronicle that the team called about a half-dozen of their marketing partners to gauge interest.
“The organizations know one another well,” Baer told the newspaper, referring to Oracle. “That’s the only way we were able to get a deal this quickly. It was hatched over the holidays.
“It’s an iconic park and we kind of view it as a landmark. We said early on we want this park to age gracefully to the point we can feel like what Fenway might feel like in Boston, and Wrigley might feel in Chicago.
“Nobody knows this park, other than AT&T, better than Oracle.”
In addition to sponsoring the ballpark’s suite level for the past decade, the company wraps up its annual OpenWorld conference with a major musical performance at the venue and holds several smaller events there throughout the year, according to the San Francisco Business Times.
“This is not just a naming thing or financial,” Oracle co-CEO Mark Hurd told the San Francisco Business Times. “This is about a relationship, a long-term relationship.”
The deal appears to be one of the richest of its kind in North American professional sports, which seemingly would trickle through to the Giants’ product on the field. The team already boasted the second-highest payroll in the majors last season at around $203 million.
Kevin Bartram, principal of Bartram Partnerships, a brand sponsorship consultancy, told Bloomberg the $200 million to $350 million price tag “seems very fair.” He was one of the consultants who brokered the Pacific Telesis-Giants partnership, according to the news outlet.
“The price has escalated significantly since we did the original deal,” Bartram told Bloomberg. “But we’ve seen with Levi’s Stadium and the Chase Center that for some companies, there’s a lot of value there.”
In one sense, Oracle is trading blue and gold for orange and black, the team colors of the Golden State Warriors and Giants, respectively. The company’s name already adorns the Oakland arena where the Dubs play, but that deal is expiring with the team’s upcoming move to San Francisco. JP Morgan Chase & Co. has reportedly agreed to pay up to $20 million annually for the rights to the Oracle Park-adjacent Chase Center.
