The San Francisco Giants‘ waterfront home will have a new name beginning on Thursday.
The Giants will announce a 20-year naming-rights deal with Oracle, the technology giant located in the Bay Area, Giants President and CEO Larry Baer told the San Francisco Chronicle. The ballpark has been known as AT&T Park since 2006, and it has been home to three World Series championships over that span.
“It’s an iconic park and we kind of view it as a landmark,” Baer said. “We said early on we want this park to age gracefully to the point we can feel like what Fenway might feel like in Boston, and Wrigley might feel in Chicago.”
The change will be immediate, with temporary signs going up on Thursday.
Bloomberg reports that the deal with Oracle is for more than $200 million, a significant increase over the $100 million that naming rights brought the franchise over the last 20 years. The Golden State Warriors are currently playing their last season in Oracle Arena. The Warriors, who won three NBA championships in the Oakland arena, are moving across the bay to a new arena in San Francisco next season, and Oakland’s arena will be renamed.
AT&T’s name went on the Giants downtown ballpark in 2006. It was Pacific Bell Park even before it opened in 2000, then SBC Park in 2003, and finally changed to AT&T when the telecom giant bought out its predecessors. AT&T told the Giants last fall that they were going in a different strategic direction, Baer said, and the team found a new sponsor in Oracle, which already has sponsorships with the team.
Oracle CEO Mark Hurd said the visibility the company gained with the Warriors’ success in Oakland played a key part in the company’s decision to make the deal with the Giants.