The Braves’ new spring training stadium in southwest Florida will be called CoolToday Park.
A 20-year naming-rights deal with CoolToday -- an air-conditioning, heating, plumbing and electrical company in the Sarasota area -- was announced Tuesday.
The name was unveiled during a media event at the stadium, which is under construction in the Sarasota County city of North Port. Construction began in October 2017.
The Braves will conduct spring training at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando for the 22nd -- and final -- year in 2019, but will open the new stadium about 140 miles to the southwest with an exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Rays on March 24. The Braves will hold their full spring training at the new facility for 30 years beginning in 2020, under terms of the deal for Sarasota County, North Port and the state of Florida to contribute about $45 million in taxpayer funds to the project.
Financial terms of the naming-rights deal were not disclosed. The deal includes exterior, scoreboard and dugout signage, as well as other “promotional opportunities,” according to the Braves.
CoolToday becomes the second company in the air-conditioning and heating business to put its name on a Braves stadium. The Braves’ Triple-A farm team, the Gwinnett Stripers, plays at Coolray Field, named for Coolray Heating and Cooling under a 16-year deal that began in 2010.
The Braves’ new spring home is part of a 10,000-acre master-planned development called West Villages Florida.
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