The University of Colorado athletic department confirmed it is actively seeking corporate naming rights for Folsom Field and the CU Events Center, opening the 102-year-old football stadium to commercial branding for the first time. Athletic director Rick George told reporters the department has engaged advisors to begin formal conversations with potential sponsors, though no timetable or minimum valuation has been disclosed.
The move follows Colorado's $12.7 million in Big 12 conference distribution this fiscal year, roughly half the per-school payout of SEC programs. Naming rights for a Power Four football venue with 50,183 capacity and national television exposure typically command $2.5 million to $6 million annually in multiyear deals, depending on market size and program visibility. The Events Center, home to men's and women's basketball, seats 11,064 and would likely price as a bundled add-on or separate mid-six-figure annual deal.
Colorado's entrance into the stadium naming market arrives as Coach Deion Sanders completes his second season with elevated national attention. The program drew three College GameDay broadcasts in 2024, more than any Big 12 school, and ranked fourth in merchandise sales behind only Ohio State, Michigan, and Texas. That visibility matters: sponsors pay for impressions, and Sanders has delivered 19 national television windows over two seasons. The department's decision to monetize Folsom Field signals confidence that Sanders-era relevance will outlast his eventual departure, a bet naming-rights sponsors will scrutinize closely.
The Folsom Field deal structure will likely mirror recent Pac-12 and Big 12 precedents. Washington State sold naming rights to Gesa Credit Union for $22.5 million over 10 years in 2020. Kansas secured a $50.1 million, 15-year deal with Children's Mercy Hospital for its football stadium in 2022, though that included capital improvements. Colorado's facility already underwent a $156 million renovation completed in 2021, meaning any naming-rights revenue would flow directly to operational budgets, debt service, or reserve funds rather than construction.
The timing also reflects broader conference realignment pressure. Colorado rejoined the Big 12 in 2024 after a decade in the Pac-12, and the league's media deal with Fox and ESPN pays $31.7 million per school annually starting in 2025, below the SEC's $51.3 million but above the ACC's $36.1 million. Athletic departments across the Big 12 are now executing their own sponsorship and premium-seating strategies to close the gap. West Virginia is finalizing a $4.2 million annual naming deal for Milan Puskar Stadium, expected to close this spring.
Colorado's basketball arena presents a different calculus. The CU Events Center hosts 30-plus men's and women's games annually but lacks the brand concentration of football. Comparable basketball venues in mid-major markets command $500,000 to $1.2 million per year. The department has not indicated whether it will package both venues as a single deal or pursue separate sponsors.
The advisory process is expected to produce a shortlist of interested sponsors by late spring, with contracts targeted for execution before the start of the 2025 football season. Regional banks, healthcare systems, and technology companies typically anchor Power Four naming deals, though Sanders' personal brand could attract nontraditional sponsors from fashion, media, or lifestyle verticals.
Colorado joins 18 other Power Four programs that have sold football stadium naming rights. The department's willingness to commercialize Folsom Field—named for Boulder attorney and university regent Fred Folsom since 1924—indicates the financial trade-off is no longer hypothetical. What remains unclear is whether the deal will include legacy naming acknowledgment, as Kansas did with David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, or a clean corporate rebrand.
The takeaway
Colorado monetizes Folsom Field and Events Center naming rights as Big 12 programs chase facility revenue to narrow SEC distribution gap.
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