Smithfield Sets $1 Million Price For Baseball Stadium Naming Rights

Council Approves Naming Rights Prices For $16.3 Million Baseball Project

SMITHFIELD, N.C. – Putting a company or organization’s name on Smithfield’s new baseball stadium will require a $1 million investment under a naming-rights schedule unanimously approved by the Town Council.

The Sept. 15 vote establishes prices for naming the stadium, baseball field and several other permanent structures at the facility now under construction.

Town staff said money generated through naming rights will initially be applied toward construction costs. After the construction budget has been satisfied, future naming-rights revenue will be used for ongoing maintenance of the facility.

Under the schedule, $1 million will purchase naming rights to the stadium for 15 years, with the sponsor receiving the first right of refusal when the agreement expires.

Naming the baseball field will require a $500,000 investment for 10 years, also with first right of refusal on renewal.

A sponsor willing to invest $250,000 can secure permanent naming rights to the road leading from Buffalo Road into the stadium.

Naming rights for the locker room/team facility and press box are priced at $100,000 each in perpetuity. The concession building/box office and restroom/merchandise facility carry permanent sponsorship prices of $25,000 each.

Project Began With $6 Million Price Tag

The naming-rights effort comes nearly a year after Smithfield first moved to bring the Wilson Tobs to Johnston County.

In September 2025, the council approved a nonbinding agreement with the Tobs organization as the town began negotiations to relocate the summer collegiate baseball franchise from Wilson to Smithfield.

Two months later, on Nov. 18, 2025, the council voted 5-1 to approve a 20-year agreement with the team and authorized a contract with Muter Construction for a new stadium at Smithfield Community Park with a cost not to exceed $6 million. Councilman Travis Scott cast the lone dissenting vote.

Johnston County commissioners had already agreed to contribute $2 million toward the project. County commissioners approved that appropriation 5-2 in October 2025.

The stadium plans changed substantially during the following months.

In April, the Smithfield council unanimously halted the original Community Park plan and began pursuing an 81-year lease of the American Legion ballfield on Pitchi Street. The proposed agreement called for the town to pay $24,000 annually to lease the property and a $140,000 payment to terminate existing field-use agreements.

That plan was short-lived.

Later that month, Smithfield announced the stadium would instead be built on 58 acres behind Smithfield Community Park that had been donated to the town by the Lampe family. The newly available property gave the town room for the stadium, parking and future recreational development without placing the stadium on the original Community Park footprint.

Cost Climbs To $16.3 Million

By August, the projected cost had increased dramatically.

Town officials presented the council with a $16,298,751 project estimate — approximately $10.3 million more than the $6 million figure approved the previous November.

The current budget places Phase 1 at $10,772,752 and Phase 2 at $5,525,999. Town officials attributed the increase to factors including the change in location, a larger facility, additional site work, clearing and grading, and an expanded parking plan with 258 spaces.

On Aug. 18, the council split 3-3 on whether to continue with the project. Mayor Andy Moore cast the deciding vote to move forward. Mayor Pro Tem Sloan Stevens and Council Members John Dunn and Steve Rabil supported proceeding, while Scott, Doris Wallace and Dr. Gettys Cohen voted against it.

At that meeting, town officials said approximately $502,125 had already been spent. The town also planned to use more than $3.27 million from reserves toward Phase 1 and seek an additional $500,000 from the Johnston County Visitors Bureau. Funding for the estimated $5.5 million second phase had not yet been finalized.

Naming rights were identified at the time as another potential source of revenue, with town officials estimating they could generate approximately $1 million to $1.5 million.

The Sept. 15 unanimous vote now establishes what sponsors would have to pay for those opportunities.