Ballpark becomes Globe Life Park in 10-year deal

Feb. 05--ARLINGTON Globe Life Park in Arlington is the new name for the Texas Rangers' stadium, under a 10-year, multimillion-dollar naming rights deal, owners announced Wednesday.

The stadium has been called the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for the past seven years. Though the Rangers would not disclose the financial terms of the partnership, co-owner Ray Davis said the additional revenue will increase the organization's "flexibility to remain competitive long-term and short-term."

Globe Life and Accident Insurance Co. is based in Oklahoma City and owned by Torchmark Corp., which is based in McKinney.

The Rangers began aggressively courting potential naming rights partners last summer, and reached out to hundreds of companies before selecting the 63-year-old insurance company, said Joe Januszewski, the team's executive vice president of partnerships.

Besides being the team's official life insurance partner under the deal, Globe Life will also be title sponsor of the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation, a charity that supports youth baseball and softball.

The value of the partnership with Globe Life exceeds that of other baseball stadium naming rights deals in the past 20 years, Januszewski said.

"When you look at the deals that have been done, I would put us in the top two of any of the other ballparks that have partners in the names on their buildings," Januszewski said.

The length of the naming rights deal coincides with the end of the Rangers' 30-year lease on the ballpark with the city of Arlington.

Davis said it was important to the team to keep the city's name on the ballpark.

"Arlington has been an excellent partner for us. We are in Arlington. We want to honor that," Davis said. "There is 20 years of history here and it's extremely important we don't forget our history."

Globe Life, founded in 1951, has more than 3.9 million policyholders, a quarter-million of whom are in Texas. The company employs 650 people at its offices in McKinney and Oklahoma City.

"We are excited to see the Globe Life name on this beautiful facility," Globe Life President Bill Leavell said.

The ballpark's first naming rights deal was short-lived.

Ameriquest signed a $75 million deal with the Texas Rangers that renamed The Ballpark in Arlington to Ameriquest Field in 2004. The company pulled out of the deal in 2007 and the field was renamed Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

The ballpark's naming rights deal was announced six months after the nearby Cowboys Stadium was renamed AT&T Stadium under a multimillion-dollar naming rights deal between the Dallas Cowboys and the Dallas-based telecommunications giant.

- This report contains material from the Star-Telegram archives.

Susan Schrock, 817-390-7639 Twitter: @susanschrock

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