Atlanta Braves home may be getting a new name
With a business deal that doesn’t affect the Atlanta Braves at all, the name on the outside of the stadium may be changing.
While this likely won’t happen until 2020, a merger announced today will likely mean the SunTrust name will no longer adorn the stadium of the Atlanta Braves in the near future.
BB&T and SunTrust Banks announced a $66 million merger Thursday morning. BB&T will be acquiring SunTrust, so corporate offices for SunTrust will be moving to Charlotte, North Carolina. While the bank will be in the region, there will be a change in name, according to reports on the merger, though that new name has not been announced.
This has caused some concern that the Braves will also move to Charlotte, but it is wise to remember that SunTrust only owns naming rights to the stadium where the Atlanta Braves play their games.
The Atlanta Braves signed a naming rights deal with SunTrust Bank before opening their new stadium. While no exact numbers have been released on that naming rights deal, SunTrust reportedly signed a 25-year naming rights deal for between $250-$275 million.
The new restructured bank could end up choosing to keep their naming contract, or they could also allow what has become so common in naming rights. A great example is by the bay in San Francisco.
The beautiful waterfront stadium in San Francisco was originally opened in 2000. Before the park first opened, Pacific Bell purchased the naming rights to the stadium for 24 years.
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However, before the stadium even opened, Pacific Bell was acquired by SBC Communications. After a few years, the company chose to no longer use Pacific Bell in promotional manner, so they agreed with the Giants to rename the park SBC park beginning in 2004.
SBC acquired AT&T in 2005, and the company was renamed AT&T, Inc. That led to the park changing its name again to AT&T Park, the name it’s had since 2006. Earlier this year, AT&T gave the Giants the option to end the deal a year early if a new partner could be found. That was apparently not difficult, as Oracle Park will be the new name entering 2019.
There are multiple routes that SunTrust (or whatever they end up calling themselves) could go. They could keep their naming rights through the end of the contract, which would be another 20 years. They could also give the Atlanta Braves a number to buy out their portion of the naming rights deal that they would take from another interested company and allow the Atlanta Braves to shop for a new naming partner.
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Whatever the name may end up on the outside, the Atlanta Braves will still be the team inside the stadium, and they will be in Atlanta unless something happens with Liberty Media, not SunTrust.