Colorado State University has announced one of the largest collegiate athletic venue naming agreements in history, a $37.7 million deal that will help launch an ambitious rebranding initiative by the new stadium sponsor and official credit union partner, Public Service Credit Union.
The agreement, which when added to the $20 million given in 2016 to name Sonny Lubick Field, brings the total naming rights revenues at Colorado State to $57 million for the stadium. This is comparable to the recently announced $69 million United Airlines Memorial Coliseum at University of Southern California and the $41 million Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium at the University of Washington.
The Colorado State agreement with PSCU, announced April 19, is for 15 years and includes annual 
escalator clauses for inflation, as well as a signing bonus in recognition of the visibility and success of the new on-campus stadium, which begins its second football season in August after setting numerous records during its first year of operation.
Public Service Credit Union is a not-for-profit, state-chartered, member-owned financial cooperative that has been in business since 1938. Today, the credit union has more than $2.3 billion in assets and more than 230,000 members – and a mission to help individuals and families make better decisions and grow stronger financially. PSCU agreed to become the title sponsor of the new stadium as part of an overall rebranding initiative and planned public rollout of a new name, which will be unveiled in the coming weeks. Learfield’s Rams Sports Properties and their Campus+ business brokered the agreement as part of its ongoing support for Colorado State University athletics.
The playing field will continue to be named for the Rams’ legendary head coach Sonny Lubick, who also happens to serve as Vice President of Community Outreach for the credit union.
Stadium successful
The $225 million on-campus stadium at Colorado State University opened in the summer of 2017 and brought the pageantry and celebration of Rams football games back to campus for the first time in 50 years, providing countless new engagement opportunities for the entire university. The stadium’s design embraces Colorado’s natural beauty, topography and visual connections to the Rocky Mountains from campus and ensures functionality for both game-day and non-game day usage.
The 727,000-square-foot facility proved immensely popular and attractive to fans in its inaugural season of 2017. The Rams set an all-time attendance record with a total of 192,369 fans and a per-game average of 32,062, representing a 16-percent attendance increase from 2016 — eighth-highest for all of college football. Season ticket sales also reached an all-time high of 15,477, a 40-percent increase from the 2016 total of 11,054.
All of the Rams’ day-to-day football training facilities and offices are located on the west side of the facility. The east side of the building includes the Iris & Michael Smith Alumni Center, general classroom space and the Collaborative for Student Achievement. The playing surface is named Sonny Lubick Field, in honor of the coach who served from 1993-2007, through an anonymous donation announced in March 2016.
The naming rights agreement also helps bolster the already strong financial picture for the new stadium, which is being funded without state funding or student tuition or fee support. The $57 million in naming rights for the on-campus stadium and Sonny Lubick Field far outpaces projections in the financial plan approved by the university’s Board of Governors.
