The University of Arizona announced a 20-year partnership agreement with Casino Del Sol, an enterprise of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, on Monday, Nov. 17, worth more than $60 million for the naming rights to Arizona Stadium.
The now-called Casino Del Sol Stadium is the largest corporate deal in Arizona Athletics and Big 12 history.
“This is a milestone moment for our athletics enterprise and is rooted in a very clear imperative: to provide our coaches and student athletes with the resources they need to compete at the highest levels and to make our University and our entire community proud,” Director of Athletics Desireé Reed-Francois said.
Back in 2024, when Reed-Francois was hired as the athletic director for Arizona Athletics, she made it clear that naming rights were an important source of revenue.
“From our first day here, naming rights represented a critical revenue stream, not just for facilities, but for sustaining competitive excellence, supporting the student athlete experience and strengthening our financial position in a rapidly changing landscape,” Reed-Francois said.
During this process, Arizona had a plethora of suitors for the naming rights to Arizona Stadium. Yet, as the negotiations continued, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe stood out the most.
“We went down the road with several partners, but the more we kept narrowing it down, it became very evident that the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and Casino Del Sol checked every box that we were looking for,” Reed-Francois said.
With the surplus of assets from the agreement with Casino Del Sol, Arizona will spread the wealth throughout the athletic department. The money will assist in facility upgrades and investing in student-athletes.
In late September, the UA announced a $50 million project addressing upgrades of the infrastructure and maintenance throughout Casino Del Sol Stadium.
“In the next two weeks, we’re finalizing a survey that’s going out to our fans to find out what do our fans really want to see in the Stadium. We have some initial ideas in terms of lighting, sound, video boards, etc. but we want to hear from our fans,” Reed-Francois said.
The new partnership with Casino Del Sol leaves the door open for more corporate agreements around campus.
“McKale [Center] will always be in the name. I want to be really clear, but we are looking at every naming opportunity possible,” Reed-Francois said.
The first event at the new Casino Del Sol Stadium will be Arizona football’s last home game of the season against Baylor University on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 11 a.m.
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