Texas Tech Athletics announced Friday it has sold the naming rights to its football stadium to Galaxy, an AI company, ending the Jones family's 98-year association with the venue. The facility, known as Jones AT&T Stadium since 2000, will now be called Galaxy Stadium. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The move erases the name of Clifford B. and Audrey Jones, longtime university benefactors whose contributions funded the stadium's original construction in 1947. AT&T's secondary naming position, secured in a $5 million deal in 2000, also disappears. Texas Tech confirmed the Jones family was consulted but provided no detail on whether compensation was involved. Galaxy, a publicly traded AI infrastructure firm based in Austin, has no prior naming-rights portfolio in college athletics.
The deal positions Texas Tech in the middle tier of Big 12 stadium monetization. Kansas sold naming rights to Children's Mercy Hospital for a reported $4 million annually in 2022. Oklahoma State's Boone Pickens Stadium carries a private donor name. TCU and Baylor operate without corporate branding. Texas Tech's athletic department ran a $7.2 million deficit in fiscal 2025, per its most recent filings, making the Galaxy cash critical for facility debt service and staff retention. The stadium seats 60,454 and hosts six to seven home games annually, plus occasional concerts. Galaxy secures 42 Saturday exposures over seven years if the contract runs standard length.
Galaxy's interest signals a broader corporate shift. Tech firms typically pursue NBA or esports assets. College football's pricing gap—$2 million to $6 million annually for tier-two venues versus $15 million-plus for NFL stadiums—now attracts AI and SaaS brands chasing younger demos without Lakers-level spend. Galaxy's CEO, former Oracle executive Maya Patel, sits on Texas Tech's College of Engineering advisory board. That overlap likely accelerated negotiations. The company announced a Lubbock data center in March, creating 120 jobs and qualifying for state tax credits. The stadium deal packages recruitment visibility with regional goodwill.
Watch for Galaxy's first logo installation during Texas Tech's August 28 opener against Sam Houston State. The university's apparel partner, adidas, must approve all stadium branding under its $150 million, 10-year kit deal. Secondary sponsor conflicts could delay signage. Also monitor whether AT&T pursues a lower-tier partnership—its Lubbock retail footprint remains significant. Family-office sources in Dallas report the Jones family discussed purchasing a counter-branding package tied to the engineering school but walked when the price exceeded $3 million over five years.
Galaxy's stock closed Friday up 2.1 percent on twice normal volume. The company reports earnings August 7.