The Texas Rangers announced their naming rights deal with Globe Life, an Oklahoma City-based insurance company, on Wednesday. And when the name Globe Life Park in Arlington was muttered, several sighs and moans could be heard all over the Metroplex.
While it definitely doesn't roll nicely off the tongue like Rangers Ballpark, or even Samsung Ballpark would have, the deal is reported by several outlets to be for close to $5 million per year over the next 10 years, which would put the Rangers in the top four in baseball in terms of stadium naming rights behind Citi Field in New York, Minute Maid in Houston and Target Field in Minnesota.
Over the next 10 years, that's an extra $50 million in the pocket of the Rangers' front office that could help in doing several things — extending their own players or signing a free agent here and there. That, coupled with the new TV deal that kicks in after this coming season and is much more lucrative, could give the Rangers a payroll that could possibly compete with the top ones in baseball, with the exception of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the ever-wealthy New York Yankees.
So get used to it, as much as you might hate it. Globe Life Park is here to stay for a while. Of course, we said the same thing about Ameriquest back in the day, and we know how that turned out.
