Founders FCU Extends Naming Rights for S.C. Ballpark
University of South Carolina and Founders FCU agree to a $9.3 million deal to extend the Founders Park name for 10 more years.
Founders Federal Credit Union has agreed to spend $9.3 million to extend its naming rights deal for the University of South Carolina’s baseball stadium for another 10 years.
The original agreement, which runs from 2015 to October 2025, was valued at $4.5 million.
USC spokesman Steve Fink said the USC board of trustees approved a deal Sept. 27 that includes $600,000 a year to the university’s athletics program plus payments to Learfield, which handles radio broadcasts and other aspects of the ballpark’s operation though a partnership with the athletics department. Those payments start at $304,748 in the first year and grow by 2% over the next nine payments, which works out to $3.3 million over 10 years.
“At Founders, we are committed to investing in our communities,” Founders President/CEO Bruce Brumfield said. “Our partnership with Gamecock Athletics as the naming partner of Founders Park is mutually beneficial for us to align ourselves with the excellence of Carolina Baseball as we further extend our brand among Gamecock Nation.”
Founders, which has a branch at the USC student center, will also be recognized as “The Official Credit Union of Gamecock Athletics.” The USC news release said the agreement also provides the credit union benefits in collaboration with multimedia rightsholder Learfield’s Gamecock Sports Properties. The Learfield benefits include “prominent branding” inside the stadium and “a comprehensive mix of marketing and sponsorship assets” with the Gamecocks athletic program.
“Founders Federal Credit Union is a tremendous partner of Gamecock Athletics,” USC Athletics Director Ray Tanner said. “Founders’ commitment to excellence mirrors our mission. This partnership has been beneficial for both of us, and I know the relationship will continue to be a win-win for Founders and our athletics program in the future.”
The sponsorship receives the exposure of having all home games broadcast live on a video linear and digital platform and on the Gamecock Sports Network that allows fans around the world to keep up with Gamecock baseball at Founders Park.
The news release said Carolina baseball ranks annually in the Top 10 in average game attendance. Last year, Gamecock baseball sold 250,057 tickets and 6,049 season tickets, according to the USC website.
USC said Founders Park is only one of 11 current on-campus primary-college baseball use stadiums in Division I baseball with a corporate naming rights agreement. They include two other credit unions:
- University Federal Credit Union of Austin, Texas ($4.1 billion in assets, 384,816 members) has had the naming rights since 2006 for the 6,985-seat UFCU Disch-Falk Field for the University of Texas Longhorns baseball team in Austin.
- Utah Community Federal Credit Union of Provo ($3.1 billion in assets, 240,329 members) signed a 10-year naming rights deal in December 2017 for the 5,000-seat UCCU Ballpark in Orem, home of the Utah Valley University Wolverines baseball team.
The USC ballpark opened in 2009, just before the Gamecocks went on to win national championships in 2010 and 2011.
The ballpark is near the banks of the Congaree River, but was safely above the river’s peak flood stage on Monday from the Sept. 26-27 deluge remnants of Hurricane Helene that poured on South Carolina and the North Carolina mountains upstream. Monday’s 30.58-foot peak was above the 30-foot mark for a major flood stage but short of the nearly 32-foot record from 2015’s “thousand-year” flood.