Chicago White Sox fans will have a new ball park name to their home stadium next season, the team has sold their naming rights for the ball park to Guaranteed Rate, the team announced on Wednesday August 24th.
The Chicago White Sox have resold the naming rights to the publicly owned stadium taxpayers popped for when owner Jerry Reinsdorf threatened to move the team to Florida.
The stadium, currently known as U.S. Cellular Field, will officially become Guaranteed Rate Field on Nov. 1 as part of a new 13-year contract that the White Sox signed with the mortgage company, according to a statement released by the club.
"We view this partnership as an opportunity to connect a successful Chicago business with a historic baseball franchise, and we look forward to growing this important relationship over the coming years as millions of fans enjoy White Sox baseball at Guaranteed Rate Field," chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in the statement.
The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority approved the name change during a board meeting, the statement said. Financial terms of the deal between the White Sox and Guaranteed Rate were not disclosed.
Opened 25 years ago as Comiskey Park, a name salvaged from the ballpark across 35th Street it replaced, the White Sox's home has been U.S. Cellular Field since 2003, despite the fact that the wireless carrier hasn't served the Chicago market for about three years.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter what a place is named. What matters is what takes place inside.
