Say goodbye to AT&T Park, the San Francisco Giants now play Oracle Park
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - The Giants ball park now has a new name. It'll no longer be called AT&T Park after the baseball team announced a Redwood City software company bought the naming rights.
On Thursday, there was already a temporary sign up, reflecting the name change to Oracle Park.
The font and design will be the same as the old signs, but the AT&T signs will all be down and switched out by opening day, April 5.
Oracle Corporation bought the naming rights to the ball park for the next 20 years.
At a news conference, Giants CEO team president Larry Baer presented Oracle CEO Mark Hurd with a team jersey, reflecting the name change.
They wouldn't disclose the exact price tag for those naming rights but the estimate is that Oracle paid anywhere from $200 to $350 million dollars.
Baer reflected on the new, long-term relationship with Oracle.
"We were joking about how in 2038 we should put in a provision that Giants fans should be able to take flying cars from Redwood Shores to Oracle Park to get to games because who knows what we'll be able to do as the world expands and the pace of technology continues to accelerate?” Baer asked.
What does this mean for Oracle Arena, across the bay, in Oakland, where the Warriors will play for one more year before they move to San Francisco?
“Our deal expires at the end of this season,” Hurd said. “When the Warriors move, then that's the answer to your question.”
A few passersby in San Francisco came to snap pictures of the park feeling a little bit nostalgic about the name change.
An AT&T spokesperson confirms that the company did have the naming rights for this ball park through the 2019 season, but that AT&T decided they would not be renewing the naming rights after this year.
Baer said the Giants already had a relationship with Oracle, as the company already as the sponsor to the suite level at the ball park.
So the CEOs say they were able to negotiate this naming rights deal quickly, within 30 days.