The University of California, Berkeley’s football stadium has changed its name to Databricks Field at California Memorial Stadium after Cal Athletics announced the largest partnership deal in its history with the data and AI company.
Cal Athletics said the partnership marks Databricks’ first collegiate athletics sponsorship, deepening the company’s ties to the UC Berkeley community, where it was founded, and where its co-founders still teach.
Cal Athletics and Learfield said Databricks is also now its Official Enterprise Data + AI platform.
The 63,000-capacity California Memorial Stadium, commonly known as the Memorial Stadium, is an outdoor college football stadium on the West coast of the United States, located on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley, California.
The University of California, Berkeley is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, US. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the State’s first land-grant university and the first campus of the University of California system.
The deal follows the end of UC Berkeley’s previous naming-rights arrangement with cryptocurrency exchange FTX in 2022.
The new partnership with Cal Athletics marks Databricks‘ first collegiate athletics sponsorship and is funded through UC Berkeley becoming a shareholder in Databricks. Cal Athletics supports 850 student-athletes in 30 sports.
Databricks was born out of research conducted at UC Berkeley between 2009 and 2013 when a team of researchers at that time showed novel techniques for processing data at massive scale.
UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons said, “We’re grateful for this opportunity to partner with Databricks, an innovative firm born here, on the Berkeley campus.
“As we work to launch a new era of excellence for Cal Athletics, nothing is more important, or appreciated, than the continued engagement and support of campus community members past and present.”
Ali Ghodsi, Co-founder and CEO of Databricks, said, “My co-founders and I came to Berkeley as academics with the belief that data and AI would transform every organization.
“Berkeley taught us to think bigger than anyone thought was reasonable. Databricks Field at California Memorial Stadium is our way of investing back into this community, and a bet on the next generation of founders, researchers, and builders.”
Field branding and helmet decals
The partnership includes a logo at the 50-yard line, which debuted during Cal’s nationally televised game against Clemson on 25 September.
Databricks branding was also scheduled to appear on Cal football helmets from the team’s 3 October game against UNLV.
Cal said the arrangement would be the first brand partnership to include helmet branding in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and among the first nationwide.
The brand also becomes the namesake of the Databricks Club – formerly known as the Stadium Club – providing a premium, all-inclusive option to elevate gamedays for Golden Bears fans.
The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley.
At Cal’s Haas Pavilion, Databricks will activate across Golden Bear basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics competitions with high-visibility LED signage throughout the venue for every home competition hosted in the facility.
The partnership with Databricks was facilitated by Learfield – the leading media and technology company powering college athletics.
Kim Damron, President of Sports Properties at Learfield, said, “Cal is an innovative institution in every sense of the word and this comprehensive partnership with Databricks is a perfect example of that.
“By packaging several high-impact assets that reach the Golden Bear fanbase and in multiple ways and across multiple sports, Databricks will have a prominent place in every Cal gameday – telling their brand story in a uniquely authentic way at the institution where the company began.”
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