Giants CEO Says 'Trust' Is Key To New Naming Deal With Oracle
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The San Francisco Giants on Thursday morning offered more details about the change of the team's home field name from AT&T Park to Oracle Park.
The new 20-year agreement between the Giants and Redwood Shores-based software company Oracle will provide the company with naming rights to the ballpark through 2038.
"We're thrilled to welcome Oracle here," Giants President and CEO Larry Baer said at the newly named stadium. "It's all good news here, but the really compelling news for us is that we feel like Oracle is already part of the family."
According to Baer, the partnership between the two companies made the most sense since the Giants and Oracle have been working together since 2003, collaborating on philanthropy efforts and for events related to Oracle's large annual conference Oracle OpenWorld.
"We received word from AT&T, as their company is changing dramatically, that they were not going to continue come 2020 and (they) were provided an opt-out in 2019 ... and we decided to only go to a few companies that were very big and vast partners," he said.
"This is the kind of deal, from a business standpoint, that we don't usually make in a couple of weeks. But if you trust one another and you're truly coming from a basis of partnership and strength, you can make a deal that is a 20-year deal," Baer said.
Oracle CEO Mark Hurd said, "We would have never done this with any organization that we didn't trust; any organization that we didn't feel culturally aligned with."
According to Hurd, the partnership with the Giants comes as Oracle's partnership with the Golden State Warriors basketball team at Oakland's Oracle Arena is set to end this year.
"Our deal actually is not with anyone other than the Warriors, so our deal expires at the end of this season when the Warriors move," he said.
The Warriors are expected to move into the newly built Chase Center in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood later this year.
According to the partnership between the Giants and Oracle, aside from the name change, the ballpark will also be getting an updated scoreboard and signage. Other upgrades will be announced in the coming weeks, Giants officials said.
Baer said he hopes to have all the signs changed from AT&T Park to Oracle Park by the season's opening on April 5.
Financial details about the partnership have not been revealed.
Oracle Park first opened in 2000 under the name Pacific Bell Park.
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