Columbia Bank's $70M Husky Stadium Deal Doubles Washington's Take

Columbia Bank will pay $70 million over 10 years to rename the University of Washington's Husky Stadium starting in 2027, the largest football stadium naming-rights deal in college sports history. Matt Fortuna of Sports Business Journal reported the terms. The university's Board of Regents must still approve the contract, after which the Tacoma-based bank also becomes a signature partner of the university.

The record number matters less to marketing leaders than the arithmetic beside it. Sold separately, Washington's football and basketball venue names now total roughly $98.4 million over a decade, against $42 million when Alaska Airlines held both under a single 10-year contract signed in 2015. The football name alone brings in $28 million more over ten years than the old two-building package did.

What changed in the deal structure?

The arena renewal came first. In March, Washington re-signed Alaska Airlines for the basketball arena only, on a 10-year, $28.4 million deal. The airline keeps one building; the bank takes the other. Add the two contracts and the Huskies earn close to $100 million over the next ten years from naming rights alone — $98.4 million exactly.

Per year, the gap widens. The 2015 package paid about $4.2 million annually for both buildings. The two new deals average about $9.84 million a year, roughly 2.3 times as much: $7 million from football and $2.84 million from the arena. SBJ calls the Columbia Bank agreement the largest annual college sports stadium naming-rights partnership, and the per-year figure is the one a rival school's negotiator can hold against its own deal.

The split reveals relative value. Alaska's arena-only renewal costs about two-thirds of what it paid for both venues in 2015, suggesting the arena name always carried standalone worth. The football name commanded the premium that set the record.

What does this change for venue owners and sponsors?

Eleven years separate the 2015 contract from the 2026 pair, and the reporting cannot isolate how much of the gain comes from splitting versus market appreciation. The packages also differ: Columbia Bank's signature-partner title buys more than a name on a facade. The numbers prove only that splitting did not leave Washington worse off and that each name found a buyer willing to pay for it alone.

The sales process adds a third variable. SBJ reports Washington worked with Tod Leiweke of the Kraken and One Roof Sports & Entertainment to facilitate the deal — a school without similar local connections could see a different price.

Venue-linked sponsorship is taking other shapes. The same day, SBJ's Bret McCormick reported the Kansas City Chiefs named HNTB their official architect. HNTB is the architect of record on the Chiefs' new Kansas stadium, scheduled to open in 2031, and may use Chiefs marks in project content — the firm's first sponsorship with a venue design client.

History shows how long a building outlasts any one name. Nashville's Nissan Stadium, which opened in 1999 and closes with a Tennessee State game against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 14, 2026, has carried four names: Adelphia Coliseum, The Coliseum, LP Field from 2006 and Nissan Stadium from 2015. Washington, D.C.'s RFK Stadium opened Oct. 1, 1961, closed Sept. 15, 2019 and was demolished between 2023 and 2026; across 58 years, a 10-year naming term would have covered less than a fifth of its working life.

Layering offers a further option. Central Washington University lists its venue as 1st Community Credit Union Field at LeGrand Stadium — a field name inside a stadium name, priced separately.

For owners with one sponsor across multiple venues, the practical step is simple: price each building separately before renewal and compare the total against the bundle's annual value. Then watch whether other schools with mid-2010s multi-venue deals follow Washington's split — and whether $7 million a year becomes the number their negotiators quote.