Georgia State Athletics kicked off a new era when it announced the new name for Georgia State Stadium thanks to its new sponsorship with Center Parc Credit Union.
The new deal, reportedly worth $21 million over the next 15 years, will be pivotal to the program’s development. It came after the Panthers program yielded its most successful season.
After three seasons, Georgia State Stadium will now be known as Center Parc Stadium. The deal is also one of the biggest for Group of Five schools, according to SportsBusiness Daily. Once known as Turner Field, Center Parc Stadium aims to bring a stronger sense of pride to a younger program that just completed its first decade of play.
Discussions between Center Parc Union and Georgia State began in early 2019. Georgia State’s connections with inner-city organizations intrigued Center Parc Union and played a major role in securing the deal. The long-term partnership between the two parties builds a commitment not only to each, but more importantly the city of Atlanta.
The new partnership is a game changer for Georgia State football and for the athletic department as a whole. Georgia State Director of Athletics Charlie Cobb described the new partnership as “tremendous” for student-athletes during a Webex press conference with the media and members of Center Parc.
“[Center Parc Stadium] will provide tremendous benefits to our student-athletes and our university as a whole,” Cobb said.
Chuck Head, Center Parc president and CEO, saw the partnership as a natural one as he lived many years near the stadium. Center Parc Stadium will be the third name given to the stadium since its inception in 1996.
“I grew up in this area, as did my wife and kids,” Head said. “So, I have a strong personal resonance with this iconic sports venue.”
The new name brings in more revenue for possible renovations to the stadium in the future. Georgia State University President Mark Becker also included the impact the new partnership will have on the wider community in downtown Atlanta.
“We’re thrilled to be partnered with a socially conscious organization like Center Parc,” said Becker. “We believe it’ll have a great impact on the community as well as our university and our athletic program.”
The new sponsorship will introduce new additions to the stadium. For starters, there will be new ATM machines placed in and around the stadium. As of now, only four ATM machines are slated to debut with the stadium.
The next addition will be the new stadium signs, which can be seen on Hank Aaron Drive in the coming weeks.
A sponsorship also elevates the program’s reputation in the Sun Belt Conference. Fellow conference rivals Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina are also making stadium improvements. But Georgia State is not far behind and its new partnership highlights how far the program has come in such a short amount of time.
