Everything to consider in wake of the Field at Bobby Dodd Stadium’s rebrand

News broke Thursday evening of Historic Grant Field’s name rights being for sale

Author:
Matthew Kistner
Publish date:
Jul 7, 2023 10:00 AM EDT

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Yesterday evening brought big news in the world of Georgia Tech branding, being that Historic Grant Field will be earning a new mantra. The Georgia Tech Athletic Department is reportedly in talks to sell the naming rights to the long standing field within Bobby Dodd Stadium. If Georgia Tech is to complete a sale of these rights, it would join five other ACC teams who have also sold their stadium’s naming rights: Louisville, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh and Miami. However, the announcement came with tons of questions, concerns and even anger.

Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field has a long standing history in college football, being the oldest used on-campus field in the entire FBS. Historic Grant Field earned its name in 1914 when John W. Grant, a Tech Board of Trustees member, gave $15,000 in 1913 to fund construction of the first permanent concrete stands on the west side of the field. This $15,000 gift would be worth around $460,000 in today’s time. The Board of Trustees decided to name the field for Grant’s deceased son following his generous gift, deeming the official name of the field as Hugh Inman Grant Field almost 110 years ago.

Georgia Tech's Football Field has been known as Historic Grant Field for almost 110 Years. This photo displays the field in 1958, 44 years after its initial naming.
Georgia Tech Athletic Association

J Batt has been no stranger to big moves in his first year at Tech, making two big hires and scoring large sponsorships for the program, but this will surely be one of his biggest and boldest moves yet. To touch a name that has been tradition for 110 years is a very swift and brash choice, but it surely comes with the struggles of building funds for a program that has bought out two coaches and launched plans to construct a new athlete center in just a single year. Letting go of a name that has come to moniker game days for Tech fans for over a century will not be the easiest of adjustments; furthermore, letting go of a name that is in memoriam of a father’s lost son brings up a questionable moral choice as this is surely only for the sake of generating larger funding for the athletic program. I would like to believe that Batt is keen to ask whichever sponsoring company takes up his offer of the field’s naming rights to respect the Grant family name and keep it in their rebrand (i.e. “Hyundai Grant Field”).

This brings me to discuss potential sponsors that could be aligning themselves with Georgia Tech game days permanently. In their article breaking the news of the rebrand, AJC name dropped Hyundai as the potential buyer due to their current construction of a $5.5 billion electric vehicle plant near Savannah. Seeing as one of their competitors, Mercedes-Benz, already possesses a stadium within the Atlanta area, this would be an interesting move for Hyundai. Hyundai has no prior sponsorships of Georgia Tech Athletics nor Georgia Tech and certainly does not fit the bill for a company that would be interested in this sort of buy. However, they are believed to be the buyer and as a current student that loves the rich history and traditions of Georgia Tech, I am unsure how to feel in relation to this one. One of Georgia Tech’s beloved mascots, the Ramblin’ Reck, is a Ford Model A Sport Coupe. The Ramblin’ Reck has led the football team onto the field for every home game since 1961, but Hyundai could draw issues with a Ford car being on their branded field. I truly cannot see Hyundai having the power to stop such a long standing tradition, especially since the Ramblin’ Reck has appeared for Tech’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium games, but it is thoughtful to consider this.

Georgia Tech's Ramblin Wreck — Georgia Tech's iconic Ramblin' Reck has led the football team onto the field for every home game since 1961.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

On the other hand, another car brand, Lexus, could also purchase the name rights. Seeing as Lexus just became the official luxury vehicle of Georgia Tech Athletics in 2022, it would not be unheard of to see Lexus up their sponsorship of the program. They even had their own section of Bobby-Dodd this past football season, the Lexus Deck, that housed an elevated Lexus vehicle that was visible to all fans in the stadium. The stand for the vehicle is still present at Bobby-Dodd with the Lexus logo on it, so the company is clearly still in a deal with Tech. It would be interesting to see Lexus take the name of the field, but I still share the same concerns about the Ramblin’ Reck’s continuation if a car company is to become the sponsor.

Outside of car companies, Georgia’s Own Credit Union is another potential company that I could see having their foot in the door for the rebrand. The company was the presenting sponsor for the White & Gold Spring Game this year and Batt could be pursuing further relations with the company as the headquarters are located in Atlanta and very visible from the stands at Bobby Dodd. This prediction really comes with no founding besides former relations between the credit union and Tech Athletics.

The same could be said for Invesco QQQ, an investment management firm that has been a huge sponsor of Tech athletics for the past year. Invesco QQQ has had their brand displayed on everything from Tech merchandise at games to jumbotrons to large advertisements posted all over Bobby Dodd Stadium. It is doubtful Invesco QQQ will improve their relationship with Athletics as their current agreement already puts them at a great sponsorship level, but it is entirely possible that they could be the next namesake to Tech’s beloved football field.

South Carolina State will be Tech's first opponent on the newly named playing surface in 2023.
Georgia Tech Athletics

In my opinion, Tech’s most optimal situation sees Batt selling the rights to a company that fits within Tech traditions. Companies such as Budweiser or Coca-Cola really fit nicely in Tech game days and it would be cool to see them officially integrated into the branding of Tech Athletics. However, these are unlikely scenarios and just cool deals I would like to see. Regardless, the company should have a passion for becoming a permanent part of Georgia Tech and should support the team they are sponsoring. It is most important to remain optimistic about what will no doubt bring some changes to Tech’s game days, but the changes should be welcome as Batt looks to take us in better directions with every move he makes as athletic director.

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