Bobcat Stadium renamed UFCU Stadium after new sponsorship

For over 40 years, the name Bobcat Stadium has stood up against the test of time. It is the name that has graced the side of the Texas State football stadium from the glory years of the Lone Star Conference through the days of the Southland Conference before expanding in 2012 in preparation for the jump to Football Bowl Subdivision. Now the stadium will enter a new era.

Texas State University and University Federal Credit Union announced a historic 15 year, $23 million dollar naming rights deal that will transform Bobcat Stadium into UFCU Stadium.

“Texas State is excited to take our long-time partnership with UFCU to this next level,” Texas State President Kelly Damphousse said. “As Texas institutions, we share a commitment to serve our state and to increase access to opportunity, education and growth. This announcement is just the beginning to a relationship that will benefit our students, our university and the larger community.”

The naming rights deal was confirmed last Friday at the Texas State Board of Regents meeting making it the largest stadium rights deal in the Sun Belt Conference and the largest naming gift in the history of the university.

Along with the stadium name change, UFCU will also open up a full-service branch at the Lyndon B. Johnson Student Center for the upcoming 2024 fall semester.

“UFCU has dedicated itself to creating a positive impact in Central Texas and across the state since our inception 88 years ago,” UFCU CEO and President Michael Crowl said. “The growth and prominence of Texas State University also reflect the difference they are making. Together, we will strengthen our undeniable influence as we help others achieve championship-level success. This innovative collaboration serves as yet another testament to how UFCU is reshaping the region and the state.”

Director of Athletics Don Coryell was happy to see the deal come to fruition, and he noted the significance of the moment for the football team as well as for the university as a whole.

“It’s massive for our athletics department, great for the university and great for the community,” Coryell said. “This is a historic day for us. I couldn’t be more excited.”

Damphousse also thanked the many donors who invested their money into the stadium from Jerry and Linda Fields, Johnny and Nathali Wiseman, Bo Trevillion, Dan and Cindee Diepenhorst, Michele and Benny Boyd, Paul and Pat Gowens and J. Garland Warren.

“We had a lot of people invest in this athletics program before UFCU came along,” Damphousse said. “They believed in us when people thought we were not good enough. They set us up to build this tower and stadium that is worthy enough to be called UFCU Stadium. We owe a whole debt of gratitude to them who trusted us and helped make this thing possible.”

Since becoming president in 2022, Damphousse is seeing the vision he had for Texas State.

“I came here, because I saw great things here,” Damphousse said. “I was talking to a former athletic director who is now at UFCU before I took the job and told me that ‘this place is ready to explode. Texas State could be one of the best athletics programs in the country if it just had the right ingredients.’ … I saw this happening, but I don’t think the campus saw it. I hear the term ‘Bobcats are going to Bobcat’. It’s the whole idea that we are always going to stumble somehow. Well, the Bobcats are Bobcatting right now. They are going to bowl games, winning championships and winning the Bubas Cup.”

Texas State’s first game at the now named UFCU Stadium will be August 31 in the season opener against the Lamar Cardinals.

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc