The Texas Tech Red Raiders will play in Galaxy Stadium beginning in September 2026.
Texas Tech Athletics
The Texas Tech Red Raiders have never been afraid to do business in a big way in their athletics program, as their latest venture is another major revenue infusion that raises the bar for their in-state rivals.
On Friday morning, Texas Tech announced a landmark 15-year naming-rights partnership with Galaxy to rebrand the home of Red Raider Football as Galaxy Stadium, beginning with the 2026 season. According to On3’s Brett McMurphy, the deal is valued at $75 million.
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The venue formerly known as AT&T Stadium will now be rebranded as Galaxy Stadium before their home opener on September 5 against Abilene Christian.
“We’re pleased to welcome Galaxy as the new naming rights partner of our football stadium,” Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said in a statement to Chron. “We look forward to creating many more of those moments together in Galaxy Stadium, one of the premier home-field environments in college football. This long-term partnership with Galaxy will have a lasting impact on Texas Tech Athletics.”
Galaxy is an institutional cryptocurrency and digital asset management company that operates data centers for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. One of its key facilities is the Helios campus, a sprawling 1,500-acre data center in Dickens County, Texas, which is currently undergoing a $3.5 billion Phase 2 expansion. The Helios campus also has over 1.6 gigawatts of approved power capacity.
Texas Tech’s deal is groundbreaking, as it’s one of the largest deals of any Power 4 program and would likely set a new benchmark for marquee programs going forward. The Arizona Wildcats’ deal with Casino del Sol—a 20-year contract worth over $60 million—was just signed last year and is 40 percent lower in annual revenue than the Red Raiders’.
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The Red Raiders are one of college sports’ bigger brands, but their in-state rivals carry an even bigger spotlight. One can wonder whether two schools could secure a much higher naming-rights deal than Texas Tech.
Texas and Texas A&M have three advantages over Texas Tech in athletic brand value: stadium traffic, television exposure and external financial drivers.
Both Texas and Texas A&M have stadiums that average well over 100,000 fans, while Texas Tech comes in just north of 60,000. Over the course of a season with seven home games, that’s a difference of 300,000 fans. Given the SEC affiliation of the Longhorns and Aggies, television exposure matters as well. According to On3, Texas ranked No. 2 nationally with an average of 7.4 million viewers per game in 2025. Texas A&M ranked No. 10, averaging 5 million viewers. According to Sports Media Watch, Texas Tech, a member of the Big XII, averaged 1.49 million viewers in 2025.
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In December, CNBC’s 2025 college athletics valuation placed Texas at $1.475 billion, No. 1 nationally, and Texas A&M at $1.32 billion, No. 3 nationally. Texas Tech’s deal with Galaxy is groundbreaking, but there are certainly bigger brands with more money to pour out that could easily trump the $75 million payout.
“I could easily see UT or A&M garnering a large nine-figure deal, just depends on if they want to field offers,” said a high-ranking source from a Texas A&M University System school.
Could we see $100 million, $150 million, or $200 million in a naming-rights deal for DKR–Texas Memorial Stadium or Kyle Field? Until a few years ago, adding a brand in front of or alongside the traditions of two iconic stadiums might have seemed blasphemous, but the current state of college sports means wheeling and dealing is in a whole new frontier. Could Anthropic drop nine figures to sponsor the Longhorns? Could SpaceX do the same for the Aggies?
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The Red Raiders have definitely cashed in, but they certainly won’t be the last to do so in such groundbreaking fashion.