For the first time in its 106-year history, Washington's football stadium — and not merely the field within — will be named for a corporate sponsor.
Beginning January 2027, Husky Stadium will be renamed Columbia Bank Stadium, the school announced Thursday — part of a 10-year, $70 million dollar sponsorship deal, according to a source with direct knowledge of the agreement. With a $7 million annual average, it is believed to be the most valuable stadium naming-rights deal in college football.
The UW Board of Regents approved the partnership at its Thursday meeting.
Previously, UW sold naming rights only to the stadium’s playing surface, which was branded as Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium from 2015 through June 2026. In March, Alaska Airlines extended its sponsorship of the basketball arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion for $28 million over 10 years, and still has some branding on the sidelines of the football field.
But the school took stadium naming rights to market, with assistance from a consultancy group led by Tod Leiweke, part owner and CEO of the Seattle Kraken and CEO of One Roof Sports & Entertainment.
As UW’s athletic department projects a $16 million cash-flow deficit for the current fiscal year — and with continued deficits expected in the future as the school continues to receive a half-share of Big Ten media-rights money — naming rights represent an increasingly important revenue stream.
Still, the general assumption was that UW’s new stadium sponsor would be for the field. But, athletic director Pat Chun said, speaking into a microphone adorned with a T-Mobile logo and in front of a backdrop splashed with Adidas branding, “the financial climate in and around college sports creates a fiduciary responsibility for us on our campus to take a look at every revenue line that we have, and figure out, how can we maximize it?”