Could Texas A&M Ever Sell The Naming Rights To Kyle Field?
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Old Ags and New Ags. Do not freak out.
There are no plans to sell the naming rights to Kyle Field. At least right now.
Obviously, what is now known to be one of college football's coliseums to play and attend a football game has always gone by one name. Kyle Field.
It is a historic name that is heavily recognized across the entire country as one of the premier places to visit for an event, and it is basically sacred and being preserved due to its long tradition over the course of time.
With the way the college landscape is shaping these days, maximizing profit has been a main goal for multiple universities to bring in revenue, but that is what makes Texas A&M's roots of tradition unlike any other, with a spirit that can ne'er be told.
There has been a change of perspective for multiple schools to increase their selling rights that can benefit and fund modern athletics. Universities are dealing with Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) and having a corporate sponsorship helps with staying competitive.
A few recent examples have come from programs like Texas Tech, Arizona, and Arkansas.
The Red Raiders transitioned from Jones AT&T Stadium to Galaxy Stadium. The Wildcats are now in a landmark agreement to change Arizona Stadium to Casino Del Sol Stadium. The Razorbacks are also one of the recent SEC schools to join the mix, going from Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium to CommunityAmerican Razorback Stadium.
Do the Aggies join the mix? No. Not for now. Kyle Field is special, and here is the brief history of where it came from when it was founded.
Historic Kyle Field
Jc Auburntamu 76 | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Turning back the pages to 1905, E.J. Kyle was a horticulture professor who was a huge enthusiast for Aggie athletics and elected to donate a 400×400-foot all-purpose athletic area where it all got started. Two sets of bleachers sat there in the spring of 1905 that accommodated a total of 500 fans.
A year later, the Corps of Cadets recognized Kyle's great work at an Old Chapel meeting. Later that day, it was decided that, because of their appreciation for the donation, the field would be named after him. The rest is history.
As the years went by, Kyle Field slowly expanded after Kyle made a purchase to bring in stands from the Bryan Fair Association, where those seats would be transferred over to the site.
In 1915, more seats were installed to bring the capacity to a total of 6,800. Fast forward to 1923, the number grew to 8,500, with construction taking place in 1927 to have concrete stands. That project was completed in 1929 just in time before the annual Texas vs Texas A&M matchup, where 32,890 seats were available.
Finally, officials took initiative to publicly recognize the name Kyle Field after Edwin Jackson Kyle, class of 1999. Before long, football became even more popular, so a second deck was added in 1967 before the site was enlarged to a third deck in 1980, where a press box and suites were added for 70,016 to attend contests.
Between 1982 and 1992, there was a narrowing and widening of the capacity, with natural grass making a grand return in 1996. Two years later, The Zone got underway to limit the amount in attendance to 58,292 before it was finished in 1999 for a total of 82,600 spectators.
It wasn't until 2008 that new suites were installed to increase capacity to 83,002, but yet another change came where student seating decreased the capacity to 82,589.
Better ideas were in store in 2013 as the Board of Regents gave the approval for a 450 million makeover of Kyle Field, where expansion was begun at the conclusion of the season and finished in time for the 2015 season.
During that period, the west side of Kyle Field was imploded, and the old Kyle Field sign was demolished for the redevelopment project, but a beautiful new mecca was born: the largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference and the fourth largest stadium in the United States.
The stadium's attendance is listed at 102,733 but has well surpassed that with the sale of standing-room-only tickets. A record was set on October 14, 2014, against Ole Miss when a total of 110,633 squeezed in.
One event did draw in more fans than that record, which happened after the historic "The King at Kyle Field" concert occurred, where George Strait strummed his guitar in front of 110,905 fans, which was a record-breaking show that set the record for the largest ticketed concert in US history at that time.
Plenty of historic moments have taken place on the Maroon and White's home soil.
One of the most widely known stories in Aggieland was the 1922 game when E. King Gill, a squad player who was up in the press box covering the game, came down to the sidelines to suit up after multiple injuries resulted in a shortage of players. He never played, but it started with the birth of the 12th Man, with the A&M student body always being ready to support.
The 1939 undefeated season National Championship season also made the history books after wrapping up the season at 11-0 and winning the Sugar Bowl against Tulane, where A&M finished No. 1 in the AP Poll.
A few others to reminisce on were Sir Parker's upset of No. 2 Nebraska in 1998, along with him helping earn the Southwest Conference Championship in 1993.
There was also the 1999 Bonfire Game vs Texas. Never forget the 2001 Red, White and Blue Out in 2001 after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Johnny Manziel's Heisman Coronation in 2012 against Missouri.
There was the 2018 seven-overtime game win against LSU that ended in a 74-72 victory. A remarkable comeback as an unranked team against No. 1 Alabama in 2021, where Seth Small had the walk-off field goal with time expiring. Don't forget last year's greatest comeback in school history against South Carolina with 28 unanswered points.
All iconic moments in College Station, Texas.
Those memories are not going anywhere anytime soon, and neither is the nationally renowned Kyle Field.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/tamu as Could Texas A&M Ever Sell The Naming Rights To Kyle Field? .
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