By
Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
UW is taking the naming rights for Husky Stadium to the open market.
The Washington athletics department announced Friday that it has renewed its arena naming partnership with Alaska Airlines for Hec Edmundson Pavilion, signing a new 10-year agreement. A source with knowledge of the agreement told The Seattle Times the deal is worth around $28 million.
However, the airline did not retain naming rights to Husky Stadium — officially known as Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium — which it had owned since agreeing to a $41 million deal with UW back in 2015.
“We’re looking for a partner,” UW athletic director Pat Chun said. “Someone willing to grow with us and think differently about partnerships. And that’s something Alaska has done extraordinarily well, relative to how they’ve immersed themselves in our campus. How they’ve impacted other areas in our campus.”
Following the resolution of UW’s multimedia rights deal with Learfield in April 2025, UW’s next financial priority was renegotiating the naming-rights deals for both the basketball arena and the football stadium, which were set to expire after the current academic year. It’s another revenue stream for an athletics department searching for ways to combat the rising costs of college athletics.
“Until something changes,” Chun said, “we’re trying to maximize all our revenue streams. This Alaska deal is a big part of maximizing that line item, and the stadium is going to be the other piece of it.”
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Chun said UW is also considering various commercial partners for uniform patches, which were approved by the NCAA in late January. Teams will be allowed to wear up to two advertisement patches of no more than 4 square inches on their uniforms for regular-season games starting Aug. 1. Not including logos for the uniform manufacturers that are already allowed.
“We’ve been out to market and had conversations regarding that,” Chun said. “That’s moving in a parallel path with the discussions in and around our stadium.”
Renewing Alaska’s agreement for the basketball arena continues a partnership that started in 2011, when the Seattle-based airline company initially purchased the naming rights in a five-year deal worth $700,000. Alaska kept hold of the naming rights to the basketball arena in 2015 as part of the agreement for the naming rights to Husky Stadium.
The current agreement also continues Alaska’s role as UW’s official airline partner. Additionally, half of the funds contributed will support scholarships and community initiatives. Alaska Airlines will also continue to sponsor other events and groups like the Dawg Dash, the office of minority affairs and diversity’s annual gala and CoMotion, the UW’s internal collaborative innovation hub.
“Seattle is our home, and the University of Washington is one of the great institutions that make this community special,” said Eric Edge, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of brand and marketing. “Our role as the university’s official airline enables us to support students and student-athletes while celebrating the energy and community that make college athletics so meaningful.”
Alaska has also utilized UW athletes in its marketing campaigns, featuring Michael Penix Jr. in 2023 and shooting an advertisement with Demond Williams Jr. and Jonah Coleman before the 2025 season. Chun said Alaska’s aggressive growth, demonstrated by its ambitious efforts to establish itself as an international carrier, makes it a like-minded partner for UW.
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“For the past decade, they’ve grown, we’ve grown,” Chun said. “Their brand has gotten more national. More global. As college athletics has changed, I’d argue Alaska has changed with us. So to land at this place where we can retain them as a partner for the foreseeable future, I think it’s critically important for UW.”
And Washington isn’t the only program aggressively pursuing new naming-rights deals. Arizona announced a 15-year deal worth $27.7 million with Alkeme Insurance for the naming rights to the McKale Center on Feb. 13. In 2023, Tennessee made a 10-year, $20 million agreement with Virginia-based supermarket chain Food City for the naming rights to the Thompson-Boling Arena. West Virginia reportedly got a similar deal to rename the WVU Coliseum after agreeing to a deal with Hope Gas in September 2025.
UW will be searching for a significantly higher number for Husky Stadium’s naming rights. Indiana received a $50 million deal with Merchants Bank of Indiana for the rights to Memorial Stadium before the 2025 season for an agreement lasting 20 years. Arizona got a $60 million, 20-year deal with Casino Del Sol for the rights to Arizona Stadium in November 2025.
Washington is working with a Seattle-based arena group led by Tod Leiweke, part-owner and CEO of the Kraken, in its search for a naming-rights deal for Husky Stadium. Leiweke’s brother, Tim Leiweke, is the former CEO of Oak View Group, which built Climate Pledge Arena. There is no timeline for an announcement about Husky Stadium’s naming-rights agreement.
“We’re happy with the totality of the deal we reached with Alaska,” Chun said. “The other part of the equation is where we land with the football stadium.”
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes.com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.
Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
UW is taking the naming rights for Husky Stadium to the open market.
The Washington athletics department announced Friday that it has renewed its arena naming partnership with Alaska Airlines for Hec Edmundson Pavilion, signing a new 10-year agreement. A source with knowledge of the agreement told The Seattle Times the deal is worth around $28 million.
However, the airline did not retain naming rights to Husky Stadium — officially known as Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium — which it had owned since agreeing to a $41 million deal with UW back in 2015.
“We’re looking for a partner,” UW athletic director Pat Chun said. “Someone willing to grow with us and think differently about partnerships. And that’s something Alaska has done extraordinarily well, relative to how they’ve immersed themselves in our campus. How they’ve impacted other areas in our campus.”
Following the resolution of UW’s multimedia rights deal with Learfield in April 2025, UW’s next financial priority was renegotiating the naming-rights deals for both the basketball arena and the football stadium, which were set to expire after the current academic year. It’s another revenue stream for an athletics department searching for ways to combat the rising costs of college athletics.
“Until something changes,” Chun said, “we’re trying to maximize all our revenue streams. This Alaska deal is a big part of maximizing that line item, and the stadium is going to be the other piece of it.”
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Skip Ad
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Chun said UW is also considering various commercial partners for uniform patches, which were approved by the NCAA in late January. Teams will be allowed to wear up to two advertisement patches of no more than 4 square inches on their uniforms for regular-season games starting Aug. 1. Not including logos for the uniform manufacturers that are already allowed.
“We’ve been out to market and had conversations regarding that,” Chun said. “That’s moving in a parallel path with the discussions in and around our stadium.”
Renewing Alaska’s agreement for the basketball arena continues a partnership that started in 2011, when the Seattle-based airline company initially purchased the naming rights in a five-year deal worth $700,000. Alaska kept hold of the naming rights to the basketball arena in 2015 as part of the agreement for the naming rights to Husky Stadium.
The current agreement also continues Alaska’s role as UW’s official airline partner. Additionally, half of the funds contributed will support scholarships and community initiatives. Alaska Airlines will also continue to sponsor other events and groups like the Dawg Dash, the office of minority affairs and diversity’s annual gala and CoMotion, the UW’s internal collaborative innovation hub.
“Seattle is our home, and the University of Washington is one of the great institutions that make this community special,” said Eric Edge, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of brand and marketing. “Our role as the university’s official airline enables us to support students and student-athletes while celebrating the energy and community that make college athletics so meaningful.”
Alaska has also utilized UW athletes in its marketing campaigns, featuring Michael Penix Jr. in 2023 and shooting an advertisement with Demond Williams Jr. and Jonah Coleman before the 2025 season. Chun said Alaska’s aggressive growth, demonstrated by its ambitious efforts to establish itself as an international carrier, makes it a like-minded partner for UW.
Advertising
Skip Ad
“For the past decade, they’ve grown, we’ve grown,” Chun said. “Their brand has gotten more national. More global. As college athletics has changed, I’d argue Alaska has changed with us. So to land at this place where we can retain them as a partner for the foreseeable future, I think it’s critically important for UW.”
And Washington isn’t the only program aggressively pursuing new naming-rights deals. Arizona announced a 15-year deal worth $27.7 million with Alkeme Insurance for the naming rights to the McKale Center on Feb. 13. In 2023, Tennessee made a 10-year, $20 million agreement with Virginia-based supermarket chain Food City for the naming rights to the Thompson-Boling Arena. West Virginia reportedly got a similar deal to rename the WVU Coliseum after agreeing to a deal with Hope Gas in September 2025.
UW will be searching for a significantly higher number for Husky Stadium’s naming rights. Indiana received a $50 million deal with Merchants Bank of Indiana for the rights to Memorial Stadium before the 2025 season for an agreement lasting 20 years. Arizona got a $60 million, 20-year deal with Casino Del Sol for the rights to Arizona Stadium in November 2025.
Washington is working with a Seattle-based arena group led by Tod Leiweke, part-owner and CEO of the Kraken, in its search for a naming-rights deal for Husky Stadium. Leiweke’s brother, Tim Leiweke, is the former CEO of Oak View Group, which built Climate Pledge Arena. There is no timeline for an announcement about Husky Stadium’s naming-rights agreement.
“We’re happy with the totality of the deal we reached with Alaska,” Chun said. “The other part of the equation is where we land with the football stadium.”
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes.com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.
's. The fans will eat it up. It would look great too with the 
logo that they'll undoubtedly put on the field as well for the first game. 
