U.S. Cellular Field No More!
On Wednesday August 24, the Chicago White Sox announced a new 13-year naming rights agreement with a company other than U.S. Cellular. Starting November 1, U.S. Cellular Field, home to the Chicago White Sox, will be no more. The new name of the popular field will be Guaranteed Rate Field. The name change was approved early Wednesday morning by the owner and operator of the stadium, the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority (ISFA).
Fans of the team took their displeasure of the name change to social media. Fans started the hashtag #BetterSoxStadiumNames that was trending in Chicago where the fans would sarcastically (and seriously) come up with stadium names that were much better than “Guaranteed Rate Field.”
This is the third name change that has taken place at the Chicago White Sox home field since 1991. The ballpark was originally called Comisky Park from 1910 through 1991 as it was named after team founder Charles A. Comisky. In 1991, when the previous ballpark was replaced by what fans and Chicagoans know today as the stadium on 35th and Shields it was called New Comisky Park. In 2003, U.S. Cellular signed a 68 million dollar naming rights agreement for over 20-years.
20 years only lasted 13 as U.S Cellular’s spectrum was bought out by Sprint in the Chicagoland area in 2013. This diminished the popularity of the field profusely as Sprint is not exactly thought of as a good, quality phone company in the Chicagoland area. The marketing value of the field and field name quickly spiraled downward. According to the White Sox senior vice president of sales and marketing, Brooks Boyer, the team approached U.S. Cellular to end the deal early in hopes of finding a new stadium sponsor.
Guaranteed Rate was founded in 2000 by Victor Ciardelli. Guaranteed Rate is one of the largest home lenders in the United States. What was once a company many of us have not heard of, will now be a household company that every Chicago White Sox fan will know and, eventually, love.
While most can agree that Guaranteed Rate Field doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, most can also agree neither did U.S. Cellular Field. That is why Chicago fans knew the home field as “The Cell.” Chicago fans are excited and also concerned to see what the nickname the field is given starting November 1.
