The name of SunTrust Park, the home of the Braves, will change to include the oft-ridiculed "Truist" brand, the newly-merged bank confirmed to CNN Business.
However, the full name of the venue (Truist Park? Truist Financial Stadium?) has not yet been decided. And it's not clear when the change will take effect.
Truist Financial (TFC) was formed by the $28 billion marriage of SunTrust and BB&T, a merger that closed late last week.
Kelly King, the CEO of Truist, urged Braves fans not to freak out over the name change.
"It'll be fun. Baseball is baseball. There will be just as many home runs under Truist...hopefully more," King said during an interview.
Truist has said that it could take up to two years to change the names and signage on branded assets such as SunTrust Park. The bank still needs to unveil the logo and colors for the new brand, something it expects to do by early next year.
The Braves have been playing home games at SunTrust Park since the venue opened in April 2017. SunTrust, which was based in Atlanta and is a leader in the Southeast, purchased the naming rights to the stadium in 2014.
Many assumed that SunTrust Park would get renamed after Truist, which is now America's sixth-largest commercial bank. But some Braves fans were holding out hope the corporate-sounding name wouldn't adorn the stadium.
SunTrust and BB&T were mocked on social media in June after unveiling the Truist brand. Some compared it to the infamous and short-lived rebrand of Tribune Publishing to Tronc.
In the interview, King defended the name and noted that Verizon (VZ) was a made-up word, too.
"We have no second thoughts at all. We love it," King said.
Truist expressed confidence the name will catch on. That effort could be aided by the fact the name will emblazon the stadium of the Braves.
King said Truist is working with the owners of the Braves to finalize the details of the change.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the origin of the the word Nike.
No comments:
Post a Comment