USC’s baseball stadium getting a new name – The State

The University of South Carolina’s baseball stadium is about to get a new identity.

USC trustees are expected to approve a naming-rights contract with Lancaster-based Founders Federal Credit Union on Friday that will change the name of the Gamecocks’ baseball home from Carolina Stadium to Founders Park.

Nicki Nash, senior vice president for marketing at Founders, confirmed the proposed deal Thursday but declined to discuss details.

USC Athletic Director Ray Tanner said he would talk about the contract on Friday.

The deal with Founders is worth a total of $7 million over 10 years. The naming-rights contract is worth $4.5 million. Founders also will pay $2.5 million in sponsorships and advertising.

The USC deal appears to be unique in college baseball.

Kendall Rogers, editor of D1Baseball.com, said he knows of just two other colleges, Texas and Texas A&M, with corporate names for their baseball fields.

TD Ameritrade signed a $15 million, 20-year deal in 2011 to name the baseball stadium in Omaha, Neb., that plays host to the NCAA’s annual College World Series.

USC also has a corporate sponsor for its basketball arena.

The school agreed this summer to extend the arena naming-rights contract with Colonial Life over 10 years for $6.5 million.

Naming rights to USC’s baseball stadium could help the Founders credit union.

University Federal Credit Union of Austin, Texas saw its membership grow by 44 percent in the first seven years since adding its name to Texas’ college ballpark, according to a trade publication report.

Founders will get its name onto one of the biggest draws in college baseball.

USC had the NCAA’s fifth-highest average attendance this spring with more than 7,300 fans a game.

Carolina Stadium, which cost $35 million, opened in 2009 — a year before the Gamecocks won back-to-back national titles.

Founders Federal has 26 offices in nine South Carolina counties and Charlotte.

The credit union, a sponsor of Gamecock athletics for several years, opened its first branch in Columbia this summer. The office is in USC’s student union, the Russell House.

Founder Federal, which started in 1950 as Fort Mill Springs Employees Credit Union, has $1.7 billion in assets — up more than 70 percent since 2003.