Giants and Oracle have corporate sponsorship wedding

Wayne Freedman Image
ByWayne Freedman KGO logo
Friday, January 11, 2019
Giants and Oracle have corporate sponsorship wedding
Fog enveloped the ballpark on King Street Thursday as the Giants and Oracle had a corporate wedding in the form of a press conference.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Fog enveloped the ballpark on King Street Thursday as the Giants and Oracle had a corporate wedding in the form of a press conference.

"We feel like Oracle is already part of the family," said Giants President and CEO Larry Bar.

VIDEO: San Francisco Giants to announce AT&T Park name change to Oracle Park

"Our people like each other. They work well together," said Oracle CEO Mark Hurd.

Oracle's sponsorship dowry is reportedly worth as much as $350 million over 20 years.

Say hey, Willie Mays. "Back in the day did you have corporate names?"

"We had one," he said. "Giants."

Oracle is the fourth name of this already venerable venue.

How did it play on the streets? ABC7 News went to The Barbershop on Union.

Shane Gordon, who wields the Clippers, could not name the first three names.

"I just know it as AT&T," he said.

RELATED: Giants strike naming-rights deal with Oracle as AT&T deal ends

For the record, we called it Pac Bell Park on Opening Day, 2000. Then SBC, then AT&T.

Before retiring from the Giants, Pat Gallagher used to run business and marketing for the Giants. He helped negotiate every single previous name. It's part of the sports world, now, he told us.

"I mean this is not like naming a bridge or a municipal building. This is a competitive business and you have to generate revenue for that."

Does it mean lower prices for your hot dogs when the season comes? Probably not.

A better team? Maybe. The stuff of lore? Definitely.

Just ask former manager Dusty Baker. "I mean, I am going to have to get used to it some. I think of Oracle and I think of the Warriors playing. But, I also call it Pac Bell, sometimes."

Among our questions to Oracle CEO Mark Hurd, today was "what does this mean for Oakland, and Oracle Arena?"

Hurd said Oracle's deal was always with the Warriors, and they're moving.

Their new venue has a different name.

So we appear to have another name change coming to the Bay Area.

Check out more stories and videos about the San Francisco Giants.