Rio Grande CU Scores Baseball Naming Rights Deal
The CU also becomes the official credit union, debit card partner and credit card partner of the Isotopes.
Albuquerque, N.M.-based Rio Grande Credit Union has purchased the naming rights to the home of the Albuquerque Isotopes minor league baseball team.
The deal officially renamed the team’s baseball stadium to Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“We are excited to strengthen our partnership with the Albuquerque Isotopes, one of the family-friendliest organizations around,” Rio Grande Credit Union President and CEO Mike Athens said in a press release announcing the deal. “It makes a statement — to our current and future members — that RGCU is committed to this region and to building family partnerships that make the community a better place to live, thrive and grow. I know our members will be as proud as I am when they soon walk into Isotopes Park and see the park with the Rio Grande Credit Union name.”
Rio Grande, which has $345 million in assets and about 35,000 members, also became the official credit union, debit card partner and credit card partner of the Isotopes, which occasionally plays under the name Mariachis de Nuevo Mexico.
RGCU Field at Isotopes Park opened in 2003 and has over 11,000 seats.
“We are thrilled to partner with such a community-minded organization like Rio Grande Credit Union,” Isotopes President Ken Young said. “Our partnership goes back several years and really escalated with the Mariachis initiative. We are looking forward to many more years of success at RGCU Field at Isotopes Park.”
Credit unions have been piling into sports facility sponsorship deals, some of which have involved baseball teams.
In 2018, for example, McLean, Va.-based PenFed Credit Union expanded its sponsorship deal with the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball team in a new three-year agreement. That deal created the “PenFed Military Appreciation Section” at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. The expanded sponsorship also included a permanent outfield wall sign, home plate rotational signage and digital signage. PenFed has $25 billion in assets and about 1.9 million members.
In 2016, Edwardsville, Ill.-based Scott Credit Union signed a sponsorship deal for the naming rights to an MVP deck at Busch Stadium, which is the home field of Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals. Scott Credit Union has $1.3 billion in assets and about 144,000 members.
In recent months, several credit unions have also signed sponsorship or naming rights deals with Major League Soccer teams, National Hockey League teams and National Football League teams, as well as deals with a variety of event venues and university athletic facilities.