The Georgia Board of Regents approved a motion Tuesday to rename Georgia Tech’s football field to Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field.
Tech and Hyundai have agreed to a $55 million deal over 20 years. Beyond the naming-rights deal, Tech will receive another $15 million-plus for other sponsorship arrangements with Hyundai, according to a person familiar with the situation.
“The dollar and cents that go with this? This is transformative for our athletics department,” Tech athletic director J Batt said Tuesday. “The revenue that will be generated from this field naming, and this broader partnership across a lot of our different facilities, will allow us to provide needed resources for coaches, student-athletes, operations and it will go straight to our bottom line and make a big difference for our athletic department at, obviously, a time and place where we need those resources to continue to be competitive, but also provide world-class experiences for our student-athletes.”
The request for approval from the Georgia Tech Athletic Association was made during the board’s monthly meeting.
“The Georgia Tech Athletic Association has negotiated a sponsorship agreement and naming recognition gift agreement with Hyundai Motor America,” vice chancellor Sandra Neuse said. “Under these agreements, the Athletic Association anticipates receiving close to $55 million in naming rights payments from Hyundai over a 20-year term.
“In return for these payments, Georgia Tech is seeking board approval to rename its football field as Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. To be clear, the naming is not for the stadium, but reflects the name change of the field from Grant Field to Hyundai Field. The Athletic Association reserves the right to create a commemorative display inside the stadium to recognize the former name of the Historic Grant Field and the sole discretion to reference that name from time to time.”
Neuse confirmed the initial agreement is for a 10-year contract with two five-year renewals. The contract can be terminated in the case of a catastrophic event or any reputational risk.
Batt said Hyundai branding will be visible on the field, as well as on the exterior and interior of the stadium starting as early as this season. Hyundai branding will also be displayed at other athletic facilities as well and, Batt said, Hyundai vehicles will be displayed in facilities as well.
Originally named Grant Field, Bobby Dodd Stadium opened in 1913 and seats 55,000 spectators.
“We take all the naming of all of our facilities incredibly seriously at Georgia Tech, as we should,” Batt added. “The Grant family has an incredible history, we’ve spoken with the family and part of it is we’re still going to recognize historic Grant Field. We’re going to create an opportunity on the field to recognize we’ve played football at this site continuously for many, many years. It’s still an important part of our history, it will continue to be a part of history, but we’re excited about Hyundai Field going forward.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported in July that a field sponsorship with Hyundai was in the works. At the time, Tech issued the following statement: “We are always exploring opportunities to bring in additional revenues to invest in our programs and student-athletes. Naming opportunities in partnership with good brands that are consistent with our tradition of excellence are always on the table. At this point though, we have no new naming agreements to report. Any changes to the names of Georgia Tech athletics facilities would be made in accordance with University System of Georgia policies and with the full awareness that our athletics programs and facilities are a source of great pride for the Institute, Georgia Tech athletics, our student-athletes and teams, as well as Tech students, alumni, and fans.”
A spokesperson for Hyundai also issued a statement to the AJC in July. The statement acknowledged Hyundai’s investment in the EV plant in Georgia and expressed gratitude for government officials, including Gov. Brian Kemp. The statement also read: “As we get to know the community both Hyundai and Genesis continue to explore meaningful ways to partner as good corporate citizens and show our support.”
Among ACC programs, Louisville, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh and Miami play in stadiums with naming-rights deals while Vanderbilt and Kentucky in the SEC have sold naming rights to their respective venues.
“We weren’t out shopping this field name. This wasn’t something we were actively soliciting. This developed organically as we talked about this partnership,” Batt said. “The leadership from Hyundai, the leadership from Georgia Tech, particularly (Tech) president (Angel) Cabrera as he continues to lead and be aligned with athletics in a huge way. This opportunity developed and it was a part of that overall investment in our state and our institution.
“We’re always looking for new and different revenue-generated opportunities. We have to be focused on generating new and different revenue across the board. So we’re always open for discussions that would benefit our student-athletes at the end of the day.”
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