A skybridge proposal goes before regents Wednesday
Texas Tech regents will consider naming a stadium skybridge for Denny and Debbie Latham on Wednesday, Nov. 11, as the university adds names and sponsors to more of the Red Raiders’ game-day experience.
The proposed Denny & Debbie Latham Skybridge would recognize the couple’s pledge to the Texas Tech Foundation benefiting athletics. The walkway is within the Womble Football Training Center and South End Zone at Galaxy Stadium. The board’s consent agenda does not disclose the pledge amount. The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. in Lubbock.
Rick Leach sees the commercial side of that growth every day. The vice president and general manager for Texas Tech Athletics Partners at Learfield helps businesses put their brands in front of Tech fans. Sometimes, he said, the advertising fits into the game so well that fans think there is less of it.
More advertising, a different presentation
In an Oct. 27 interview on The Wake Up Call with Benji Snead on 92.3 The Hub, Leach recalled a conversation with a fan who had attended the Houston football game after several years away. The fan liked the stadium’s energy and thought Tech had cut back on advertising.
“We’ve increased it tenfold,” Leach said. He did not give supporting figures for that comparison. He credited better sound systems, LED boards and high-resolution video displays with making sponsors easier to work into the entertainment.
“We certainly have not scaled back, nor will we.”
Rick Leach, on in-game advertising, The Wake Up Call, Oct. 27, 2026
His team’s work extends outside the stadium, too. Leach described sponsorships involving radio broadcasts, social media, digital advertising and branding in tailgate lots. He said his local staff handles primarily local and regional partnerships, with corporate support for some larger national deals.
Tech formalized a closer arrangement with Learfield in November 2025, announcing Texas Tech Athletics Partners LLC and plans to bring business-development and NIL staff into the athletics department. Premium spaces, field logos, uniform patches and stadium naming rights were among the opportunities identified.
What Galaxy bought
The most visible result is on the stadium itself. Tech announced a 15-year naming partnership with Galaxy on July 17, replacing the Jones AT&T Stadium name for the 2026 season.
According to the university, the package includes fan engagement and athlete NIL opportunities through marketing campaigns and original content. It also makes Galaxy athletics’ official data center and digital assets partner, with branding extending to men’s and women’s basketball. Texas Tech Athletics Partners facilitated the agreement.
Galaxy already has a substantial West Texas presence. Its second-quarter investor presentation places the Helios data center campus on more than 2,200 acres in Dickens County, about 60 miles from Lubbock. In a July 6 announcement, the company said it had completed the first phase, delivering 133 megawatts of critical IT load to CoreWeave for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
The donors behind the other names
The proposed Latham Skybridge name would recognize a charitable pledge to the Texas Tech Foundation. Commercial sponsorships, such as Galaxy’s stadium agreement, buy exposure and other benefits. An athlete’s name, image and likeness agreement pays the athlete for marketing rights. These arrangements can appear together at a game while serving different purposes.
10 major deals and donor namings
This comparison covers prominent athletics partnerships and named spaces, not a verified ranking of the 10 largest deals. Gifts, sponsorship fees and product allotments are different forms of support and should not be added together as annual revenue. Figures come from university announcements, board records and the reporting identified below.
| Partnership / named space | Amount | How long? |
|---|---|---|
| Galaxy Stadium | $74.4 million in scheduled sponsorship fees, reported by the Avalanche-Journal | 15 years: 2026–27 through 2040–41; Galaxy opt-out in 2036 |
| adidas apparel partnership | $59.25 million package reported by Don Williams: $50 million in products + $9.25 million cash | 10 years, beginning July 1, 2024 |
| Cody Campbell Field | $25 million gift, announced 2021 | Undisclosed |
| Dustin R. Womble Football Center | $20 million lead gift, announced 2021 | Undisclosed |
| United Supermarkets Arena | Tech’s October 2020 announcement: about $16 million | Through 2035, according to Tech’s announcement |
| Dustin R. Womble Basketball Center | $10 million lead gift, announced 2017 | Undisclosed |
| Gary Petersen Field Club | $10 million commitment, in May 2024 board materials | Undisclosed |
| Ed Whitacre Center for Athletics Administration | $6 million gift from Edward and Linda Whitacre, in 2020 board materials | Undisclosed |
| Patrick Mahomes football spaces | $5 million commitment by Patrick and Brittany Mahomes, announced 2024 | Undisclosed |
| Denny & Debbie Latham Skybridge — proposed | Undisclosed pledge amount | Undisclosed; Nov. 11 vote pending |
The latest regents agenda also reports an already approved naming: Arcilia Acosta Family Champions Hall. The chair and vice chair approved that name for the trophy hall Sept. 17, recognizing the family’s pledge.
The Jones name still lives on in the stadium’s student section, The Jones Student Section.
Where the money goes
Tech’s June 2025 revenue-sharing plan assigned the Red Raider Club a $14 million annual fundraising goal to help fund athlete payments. The university said its investment and other athletics revenue would cover the rest of that commitment. The fundraising also supports scholarships and athlete services.
That explains the broader demand for revenue; it does not show how each sponsorship dollar is spent. The announced deal values in this article do not establish what Tech retains after expenses or what portion reaches athletes.
The show on game day
Tech promoted LED wristbands and drone shows for the Nov. 7 West Virginia game. Sponsors are part of the presentation, too: Progressive Insurance’s field-logo partnership includes video, LED, digital and social media exposure.
The next sale: a Tech jersey sponsor
Athletes can be part of those marketing packages. In August 2024, adidas and Mahomes announced six Tech athletes as the first Team Mahomes NIL class, with plans for them to participate in brand campaigns. Such outside deals are separate from the direct payments participating schools could begin making to athletes July 1, 2025, under the House settlement.
Asked what was next in his business, Leach said Tech needed a “commercial partner for our jerseys.” The university had announced State Farm branding on its specialty “Let’s Ride” uniforms for the Sept. 18 Houston game. Leach described that as a one-game partnership.
That search concerns a school-specific sponsor. The Big 12 announced a separate, multiyear Monster Energy agreement in July that includes co-branded conference logos on football and basketball jerseys, fields and courts.
As of the Oct. 27 interview, he said the goal was to find a commercial partner whose logo could appear on jerseys across all sports. Tech would also consider separate partners for individual sports, such as football and men’s or women’s basketball.
His preference was one brand willing to sponsor the whole lineup.
