The University of Washington athletics department announced Friday that it has renewed its arena naming partnership with Alaska Airlines for Hec Edmundson Pavilion, but the airline did not retain naming rights to Husky Stadium.
As reported by Andy Yamashita of The Seattle Times, the new 10-year arena deal is worth approximately $28 million. Meanwhile, Husky Stadium will no longer bear the official name of Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium, in place since 2015, when the airline signed a $41 million agreement.
“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," Yamashita wrote. "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.”
Per Yamashita's report, 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, Yawashita reported, adding that 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.
“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.”
UW will be searching for a significantly higher number for Husky Stadium’s naming rights, according to Yamashita. 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, Yamashita reported.
“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.”
