Photo of the Safeco Field outfield sign at night. 

Image Credit: Richard Eriksson (CC BY 2.0)

The Seattle Mariners's home ballpark has been known as Safeco Field since the stadium first opened in 1999. Safeco Insurance, which is headquartered in Seattle, signed a 20-year naming rights deal in 1998 that will expire following the 2018 Major League Baseball season. Safeco Insurance has decided not to extend the current naming rights deal and the ballpark will operate a new name at the beginning of the 2019 Major League Baseball season.

Kevin Mather, COO and President of the Seattle Mariners, was very complimentary of Safeco Insurance and hopes the Mariners organization can continue to work with the company further into the future. Safeco is hoping to use that money to diversify it’s marketing efforts into other areas. The Seattle Mariners have already begun preliminary discussions with other entities about a new naming rights deal. Many are speculating that locally owned Amazon or Starbuck’s could submit a bid for the naming rights to the ballpark. Other potential suitors include Boeing, Microsoft, Alaska Airlines and Holland America Line.

Safeco Field is owned by the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District while the Mariners organizations operates all events held at the ballpark. The original naming rights deal was for $36 million total and generated $1.8 million annually for the ballpark.

There has been a lot of activity in recent months regarding the professional sports venues in Seattle, Washington. Telecommunications company CenturyLink has extended it’s naming rights agreement with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and their home stadium; CenturyLink Field. Various groups of investors are also attempting to build a new arena in SODO to attract both an NHL and NBA team. The other option that has picked up a ton of traction is to renovate the old KeyArena, former home of the Seattle Supersonics with the hopes of luring two franchises. The Oak View Group has been chosen to perform the renovation by Seattle’s Mayor although there is still plenty of red tape left to complete before construction can begin. The renovation to KeyArena will be privately financed and will exceed $550 million in upgrades.

 

Reference:

SeattleTimes.com

  

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