Texas Tech Needs a New Stadium Name Partner

AT&T is dropping its naming rights to Texas Tech‘s 60,000-plus seat football stadium when the telecommunications giant’s agreement expires in June, according to reporting by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal on Thursday.

The Red Raiders will remain exclusive partners with the company, including continued stadium signage around the scoreboard and through commercials, Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt said. Built in 1947, the stadium is named after former university president Clifford B. Jones and his wife, Audrey.

Hocutt said Texas Tech is “in the marketplace for a stadium naming partner that could begin as early as next year.” Should Texas Tech retain another sponsor, the Big 12 will go ahead with four total corporate-named stadiums in 2026: Mountain America Stadium (Arizona State), TDECU Stadium (Houston), FBC Mortgage Stadium (UCF), and Texas Tech’s eventual sponsor to Jones Stadium.

Schools reserving stadium naming rights for donors is a longstanding tradition in college sports, and it’s holding steady in the Big 12 with historical fixtures like LaVell Edwards Stadium (BYU) and Bill Snyder Family Stadium (Kansas State). Remember, these folks are giving a nice chunk of change challenging that of what schools could otherwise make by partnering with a local or national company to name their home field or court.

Make no mistake, corporate advertising is coming to the Big 12. Just look at the new glass floor introduced for this year’s men’s basketball tournament, and the approval of jersey patches for as early as next school year. Stadium names and on-field partnerships were only the beginning of a slippery slope (it’s free money).