Amarillo Independent School District trustees spent part of a recent meeting arguing over whether to sell the naming rights to Dick Bivins Stadium, the 15,000-seat venue that has hosted the district's football and track programs since 1950, as reported by Amarillo.com. The board ultimately voted to send the idea to a policy committee for further study rather than decide it outright, according to Amarillo Tribune.
The debate, reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, centered on whether AISD should look for a corporate buyer willing to pay for branding rights to the stadium, which is used for high school football and track and hosts more than 100 events. Board president Jon Mark Beilue placed the naming-rights issue on the September 14 agenda and said the district needs to explore alternative income options, as noted by Amarillo Tribune.
Board Splits Over Selling a Piece of Local History
Several trustees pushed back hard against the idea. Don Powell opposed selling the stadium's name outright, saying commercializing the venue would sacrifice history and community pride, the Star-Telegram reported. Tom Warren also opposed looking for buyers for the stadium name and ultimately voted against the policy-committee motion, while Steven Trafton said he opposed sacrificing AISD's honor for financial gain.
Connie Brown took a more measured stance, questioning whether AISD should simply sell the naming rights to the highest bidder rather than weigh other criteria, per the report. Tremaine Brown, who said he received a full scholarship to the University of Texas after performing at the stadium, also opposed changing or selling its name. Doyle Corder struck a different note, supporting discussion of stadium renovations and saying the track and stadium stands should be fixed regardless of what happens with the name.
Stadium Named for Amarillo Civic Leader
Dick Bivins Stadium was named for Dick Bivins, described in the report as an Amarillo civic leader and the nephew of Lee Bivins, a prominent cattleman and former Amarillo mayor who built and maintained the historic Bivins home on Polk Street. Andrea Gulley noted the naming-rights idea last surfaced in 2024 in connection with AmTech, according to the Star-Telegram, and trustees said more than 30 other Texas school districts face similar budget problems.
The stadium has seen periodic investment over the decades despite the current budget pressures. AISD installed FieldTurf at the stadium, which was the first in the world to use the next-generation artificial turf, according to Amarillo ISD, and the venue underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation in 2005. The district repainted the stadium's track over the summer after adding new lights the year before, as Amarillo.com reported, even though voters rejected a 2022 bond package that would have delivered $19 million for stadium improvements. As of that August report, officials said there was no current talk of another bond proposal.
Committee Now Studying the Issue
Rather than settle the debate that night, the AISD board passed a motion assigning the naming-rights question to a policy committee for further study, with the committee expected to report its findings at the next board of trustees meeting, according to the Star-Telegram. Texas property taxes represent 33% of AISD's budget, the outlet reported, a backdrop trustees weighed as the district's enrollment has declined from 30,000 students a decade ago to 25,000 today, prompting the consolidation of three elementary schools.
Naming-rights deals have become increasingly common at Texas high schools in recent years. PlainsCapital Bank is paying Lubbock ISD $3 million over 10 years for football-stadium naming rights, and Academy Sports+Outdoors agreed to pay Katy ISD $2.5 million over 10 years for naming rights to its student activities complex, according to vnews.com. Conroe ISD, after inviting 113 vendors to bid, settled on a $1 million, 10-year deal with Woodforest National Bank, the outlet's report notes, while some such contracts route revenue into a district's general fund rather than directly to athletics.
Other districts have pursued even larger sums. Prosper High School secured a 10-year, $2.5 million naming-rights agreement with Children's Health for its new stadium, according to Athletic Business, and Doggett Equipment Services Group is paying Beaumont ISD $110,000 annually for 10 years, totaling $1.1 million, per a report from The Examiner. Still, Fox Business reports that valuations depend heavily on a stadium's size and location, and for most districts, naming-rights deals max out at $100,000 or less.
Austin ISD offers a glimpse of how far the trend can go: that district is selling naming rights to shared facilities, including stadiums and its performing arts center, to help close a nearly $20 million budget deficit, according to KUT. Austin ISD is partnering with the nonprofit Austin Ed Fund to find naming partners for six facilities, with officials there projecting the initiative could bring in tens of millions of dollars over the next few years under contracts expected to run eight to 10 years, though the exact figures remain unknown until deals are finalized.
For now, Dick Bivins Stadium's name remains unchanged. The matter rests with AISD's policy committee, which is expected to bring its findings back to the full board at a future meeting.
