EVERETT — From now on, call it Funko Field.
Or, technically, “Funko Field at Everett Memorial Stadium.”
The Everett School Board on Tuesday night unanimously gave the AquaSox minor league baseball team the go-ahead to sell the field’s naming rights to the locally based toy company.
The agreement will cost the company up to $1.1 million and will be paid out over eight years, according to contract documents. The last three years are optional.
The baseball team will get 75 percent and the remainder will go to the district, which owns the stadium off Broadway.
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Tuesday’s vote marks the first time that naming rights associated with the 72-year-old structure have been sold.
The venue will keep its original moniker, though, as the new name only applies to the field, school officials said.
The stadium has hosted minor league teams since 1984 — first the Everett Giants, and then the AquaSox, a single-A team that’s an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. It’s where Ken Griffey Jr. hit his first professional home run.
The field is also used by Everett High School, Everett Community College and the Pacific International League’s semi-pro Everett Merchants. As part of the agreement, Funko’s branding will be added to the field, the wall, the foul poles and the video board, as well as in promotional material. Right field will feature a 15-foot figurine. The company will foot any additional bills for those efforts.
CEO Brian Mariotti said the company, which is headquartered in downtown Everett, is planning seven “Funko Fridays,” when freebies will be given away.
“We’re really working (with the AquaSox) to create amazing moments at the stadium,” he said.
Among the stipulations in the contract: The merchandise store must get written consent from Funko to sell bobbleheads and toys from other manufacturers.
Funko also will receive free and discounted tickets for games and special events.
The school district paved the way for the renaming when it approved an amended license agreement in July 2017. The AquaSox agreed to help pick up the tab on replacing the waterlogged grass field with artificial turf. In return, they were allowed to sell naming rights, with final approval granted by the school board.
“Funko will be a fun partner to work with,” AquaSox general manager Danny Tetzlaff said Tuesday.
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
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