Bulldog Stadium soon will have a new name. Did Valley Children’s get what it paid for?
The new name of Bulldog Stadium is up for approval by the California State University Board of Trustees at its meeting next week.
The name, first revealed on the board’s agenda: Valley Children’s Stadium.
The CSU Board of Trustees’ committee on institutional advancement, scheduled to convene Tuesday during the July 11-13 meeting in Long Beach, also will act on the renaming of the library at Fresno State, discussing the removal of the name of former university librarian Henry Madden after it was discovered he held antisemitic views.
Fresno State and Valley Children’s Healthcare last August agreed to a stadium naming rights deal that is worth $10 million over a period of 10 years, with the $1 million annually to upgrade the aging facility as well as fund scholarships and support for students pursuing degrees in health care.
The money will come from the VCH marketing and communications budget, Valley Childrens’ officials have said.
The deal was brokered with the assistance of former Fresno State quarterbacks David and Derek Carr, who serve as ambassadors for Valley Children’s. It has the backing of university President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval and campus and system leaders.
The VCH deal is one of the most lucrative in the Mountain West Conference.
Colorado State has a 15-year deal worth $37.7 million with Public Service Credit Union, which later became Canvas Credit Union. The Rams’ new on-campus stadium is Canvas Stadium.
Boise State has a 15-year, $12.5 million contract with Albertson’s. San Jose State has a 15-year, $8 million contract with Citizens Equity First Credit Union. Utah State has an 18-year, $6.3 million contract with Maverik, a regional gas station and convenience store chain.
A renovation of Bulldog Stadium, which was opened in 1980 and expanded in 1991 to include 10,000 more seats and 22 suites, became more of a spotlight issue with the Pac-12 potentially looking for expansion partners after losing UCLA and USC to the Big Ten starting in 2024.
Fresno State and Pac-12 expansion
The Pac-12 on Tuesday in a statement said its board of directors had “met this morning and authorized the conference to immediately begin negotiations for its next media rights agreements.”
The questions are, what is it selling (10 teams, 12 teams, a merger with the Big 12 or ACC) and will a buyer pay at a premium for a conference without UCLA, USC and the Los Angeles market?
Fresno State athletics director Terry Tumey has had discussions with a high-level Pac-12 official, an athletics department source confirmed. But the Bulldogs are considered a long shot to join the conference, even with a media reach from Sacramento to Bakersfield, three markets that combined would rank 11th in the nation.
Fresno State does not match up well academically with Pac-12 universities, and its athletics facilities and most prominently Bulldog Stadium are in need of upgrades.
Jiménez-Sandoval has made sustained athletics success a focal point, forming a task force to explore different factors including infrastructure, revenue generation, marketability and the student-athlete experience.
