Report: Ohio State’s Gene Smith Open To Selling Naming Rights To Ohio Stadium
Earlier this year, Ohio State announced a multi-year partnership with Columbus-based Safelite AutoGlass to rename the playing surface at Ohio Stadium, which is now known as Safelite Field.
While there were mixed reactions to this news, it’s largely gone unnoticed in the months since – other than the logos at the 25-yard lines – because the name of the 100-year-old venue remains unchanged. However, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told The Columbus Dispatch that the university would be open to selling the naming rights in the future.
“In today’s world, the way costs are, we’ll evaluate that,” Smith said. “We dipped our toe with a great partner in Safelite with the field.”
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Ohio Stadium opened on Oct. 7, 1922, as a replacement for Ohio Field at a cost of $1.3 million. It originally had a seating capacity of 66,210 but currently seats 102,780, making it the third-largest stadium in the country behind Michigan Stadium (107,601) and Penn State’s Beaver Stadium.
Only three Big Ten programs have sold the naming rights to their stadium, including Minnesota (Huntington Bank Stadium), Rutgers (SECU Stadium). The others are named after states, former players, coaches, famous alumni, the school’s mascot, governors or in honor of those who died in World War I.
“There’s nothing happening,” Smith said. “There’s no effort to do that now. I’m just saying the answer to your question is, ‘Sure.’ That could be five years or 10 years or 15 years (away). But to say we’d never do it, that’s just not the truth. The truth is, at some point the university may do that.”
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