LOGAN, Utah -- After months of trying to keep their stadium naming rights deal under wraps, convenience-store retailer Maverik Inc. and Utah State University (USU) in Logan, Utah, released the full contract, reported The Salt Lake Tribune.
Maverik officials provided the newspaper a copy of the 22-year, $6.3 million arrangement, which allows the Aggies to complete a long-desired upgrade to the stadium and puts Maverik's name throughout the facility.
The move marks a dramatic reversal from when the university and the retailer, challenged by an open records request from The Logan Herald Journal, defended their right to confidentiality. After the committee ordered USU to release the contract, the parties agreed to end the battle rather than fight the order in court.
"We would rather help the public be in a position where they wouldn't have to speculate," David Hancock, a Maverik vice president and attorney, told the paper. "The contract is as vanilla as it gets."
The deal lasts through the end of 2037, and Maverik will pay Utah State in quarterly installments for the next 18 years. In return, the stadium will bear Maverik's name. Maverik also will have signage posted throughout the stadium, serve as the official convenience store and gas station of Utah State football while locking out competitors, operate a Bonfire Grill in the stadium concession area and reserve hospitality rights including 20 tickets to each home game.
The contract helps fund Utah State's stadium renovation, which is estimated to cost $36 million as the Aggies build a new press box tower and add suites and concourse improvements, said the report.
Maverik asked USU to keep the contract confidential in the hope their marketing strategy and the rates they're willing to pay for media would be protected. The contract also cites the company's competitors (who won't be granted sponsorship rights under the terms of the deal) including 7-Eleven, Chevron and Sinclair.
In the end, the company decided to give up the fight for the same reason it made the deal in the first place: to earn goodwill in Logan.
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