\u201cWith Uniqlo, we have established a historic partnership that we\u2019re very proud to present in our ballpark,\u201d Dodgers president Stan Kasten said in a statement announcing the partnership.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a great honor to partner with the Los Angeles Dodgers \u2014 such a prestigious, world-class team,\u201d wrote Uniqlo founder Tadashi Yanai.<\/p>\n
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\n The Uniqlo Field branding is festooned around Dodger Stadium. (Luke Hales \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a deal that, when looked at in the context of other naming rights deals, seemed to be too good for the Dodgers to pass up. But it\u2019s also one that some fans have expressed may subtract from what makes Dodger Stadium, in its old and beautiful way, so celebrated.<\/p>\n
\u201cFenway Park is the home of the Red Sox,\u201d said economist and author Andrew Zimbalist. \u201cIf you diminish Fenway Park, then maybe you\u2019re also diminishing the Red Sox in some symbolic way, that might be significant. The Dodgers have made a different calculus.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than two-thirds of all big-league ballparks are under some sort of naming rights deal. The eight holdouts are Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Nationals Park, Angel Stadium, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Wrigley Field and Kansas City\u2019s Kauffman Stadium \u2014 though the Royals are looking to build a new stadium, and with it, the possibility of securing a naming rights deal.<\/p>\n
For certain venues that are viewed as truly untouchable, that type of partnership isn\u2019t a viable option. Wrigley Field has been the name of the Chicago Cubs\u2019 stadium for exactly 100 years, and though Wrigley remains a major candy and chewing gum manufacturer as part of Mars, Inc., the name is not considered to be a corporate sponsorship. Yankee Stadium, home of a franchise defined by its stringent traditions, doesn\u2019t appear to be a candidate for change.<\/p>\n
Neither is the aforementioned Fenway Park. The Red Sox have preserved the name of the stadium, while prioritizing brand partnerships in and around the ballpark. Though the team did not rule out ever selling the rights to their century-old venue, they made clear it is not a priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, Fenway Park sits in its own category,\u201d Red Sox executive vice president Troup Parkinson said in an email. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the identity of the team and the city. The bar for anything that would change that is incredibly high, and truly not something that has ever been a focus internally.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the Red Sox aren\u2019t the Dodgers. At least not at this moment in baseball history. And when it comes to teams that have entered the naming rights space, none of those deals look quite like what the Dodgers have done in 2026.<\/p>\n
For one, this deal lasts only five years \u2014 far shorter than the 15 to 30 years common to most partnerships. And most naming rights deals in baseball are traditionally nowhere near this expensive. Tropicana pays the Tampa Bay Rays between $1-$1.67 million per year for its 30-year naming rights deal, signed in 1997. Even baseball\u2019s most modern naming deal, Daikin Park in Houston, cost the HVAC company just $140 million over 15 years.<\/p>\n
In New York, another major market, CitiBank pays the Mets $20 million per year over a 20-year period. That\u2019s still $5 million per year cheaper than naming the playing surface for Hollywood\u2019s hometown club.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most company-friendly deal exists in Colorado, where Coors Brewing Company continues to own the naming rights in the Mile High City for almost nothing. According to The Denver Post,<\/a> Coors paid an up-front fee of $30 million in 1995 to become a limited partner, and now owns the rights in perpetuity.<\/p>\n \u201cCoors is an icon here in Colorado,\u201d former CEO Pete Coors told The Athletic. He\u00a0authored the deal more than 30 years ago. \u201cHaving our name associated with it obviously makes us feel good. Whether it\u2019s worth it? You tell me what an advertising dollar is worth, and you could make a lot of money. Because nobody knows.\u201d<\/p>\n The reason this Uniqlo deal is so expensive is not rocket science. The Dodgers are a global brand, one whose value has risen 17 percent to $9 billion in the past year, according to Sportico<\/a>. Their earning power went from around $500 million in 2021 to more than $900 million in 2025; that\u2019s $100 million more than the next-highest club.<\/p>\n