Texas Tech finalized another revenue stream for its athletic department, announcing Friday it has agreed to a stadium naming rights deal with global technology and financial services company Galaxy.
The agreement will change the Red Raiders’ football venue’s name from Jones AT&T Stadium to Galaxy Stadium beginning with the 2026 season. The deal will also bring with it name, image and likeness opportunities for the school’s student-athletes.
The first game at the newly named stadium will take place Sept. 5, when Texas Tech hosts Abilene Christian to open the 2026 season.
“We’re pleased to welcome Galaxy as the new naming rights partner of our football stadium,” Texas Tech director of athletics Kirby Hocutt said in a statement.
“When I visit with alumni across the country, the conversation almost always turns to their favorite memories inside our stadium. We look forward to creating many more of those moments together in Galaxy Stadium, one of the premier home-field environments in college football. This long-term partnership with Galaxy will have a lasting impact on Texas Tech Athletics.”
What are the terms of the deal? Why Galaxy?
The agreement is a 15-year deal worth a reported $75 million, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, which works out to roughly $5 million a year.
Galaxy is a global leader in data center infrastructure and digital assets, with designs on “delivering solutions that accelerate progress in finance and artificial intelligence,” per the company’s website.
A Galaxy-owned Helios AI data center is located in Dickson County, Texas, about 60 miles east of Lubbock, where the school is located.
“Texas Tech is exactly the kind of institution we want to be aligned with,” Mike Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Galaxy said in a statement. “It has a culture built on grit and loyalty, one of the strongest talent pipelines in the country and a fan base in Red Raider Nation that shows up with real intensity.
“At our Helios campus in nearby Dickens County, we’re building the infrastructure that powers the code economy. And we’re doing it the right way: prioritizing hiring locally, investing in the community and being a good neighbor. We’re here to build alongside Texas Tech for the long term and this is just the beginning.”
What kind of NIL opportunities will the deal bring?
The agreement between Texas Tech and Galaxy will also provide NIL opportunities for the university’s student-athletes through branded activation campaigns and original content, the school announced.
The deal will make Galaxy the official data center and digital assets partner of the Texas Tech athletic department, and Galaxy’s branding will also extend to men’s and women’s basketball via digital, social and in-game features.
How the Texas Tech, Galaxy naming rights deal compares to other Big 12 schools
The reported $75 million that Texas Tech will receive through the 15-year naming rights agreement outpaces other recent naming rights agreements from Big 12 schools.
Last November, Arizona inked a 20-year naming rights agreement on its football stadium with Pascua Yaqui Tribe, a deal valued at more than $60 million, per the school. It changed the venue’s name to Casino Del Sol Stadium.
In August 2023, Arizona State reached a 15-year agreement with Utah-based Mountain America Credit Union to rename the school’s football stadium to Mountain America Stadium. That deal is worth more than $50 million, according to Phoenix Business Journal.