Union Bank & Trust CEO Billy Beale throws out the ceremonial first pitch Thursday at the Virginia Tech baseball complex that now bears the bank’s name. Contributed photos.
Billy Beale had at least two reasons to take the mound Thursday in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech’s baseball stadium as the Hokies took on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
The first was to celebrate the signing of a $3.5 million agreement between the university and Union Bank & Trust, of which Beale is CEO, giving the bank naming rights for the school’s baseball complex.
The second reason: to test out his arm.
Beale threw out the ceremonial first pitch Thursday at the newly named English Field at Union Park, a moniker that the Richmond-based bank hopes will lead to increased visibility in one of its bigger markets in the state.
While the name change is immediate, Union is also buying into having its brand on an overhauled baseball complex thanks to a multimillion-dollar renovation plan the school is taking on over the next two years.
It’s the second deal in as many years between the school and the bank. In 2014, Union signed a sponsorship agreement for branding and signage at football games in the 65,000-seat Lane Stadium.
Union spokesman Bill Cimino said the football branding deal was what led to discussions about the baseball complex.
“The football stadium was the first time Tech had done something like that and we thought it was an interesting approach and were pleased with the way it all turned out,” Cimino said.
Tech approached the bank last spring with the idea, the plan was finalized by the end of the year, and approval from both sides was cast earlier this month. Union agreed to pay the money over a 10-year period.
The newly named English Field at Union Park.
The school is now preparing to accept designs from builders to make major changes to the baseball complex. While it’s still early in the process, the concept in mind will include adding premium seating and suites, a larger, modernized concession area, a new scoreboard, and redoing the press box and the entrance into the complex.
The school is also reworking its main entrance into campus off Route 460, which will divert most of the traffic coming in and out of the school right passed Union Park.
That part of the plan also helped seal the deal for Union, Cimino said.
“To be right there as one of the first things you see when you come into Virginia Tech was very appealing to us,” Cimino said.
Union has a penchant for placing its name in front of college sports fans around the state. It’s the official bank of UVA football and supports UVA basketball. It also has athletics sponsorships with University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, James Madison University, the College of William & Mary and others.
But the Tech baseball deal is the biggest yet for the bank.
“This is the first naming rights deal for us,” Cimino said. “It was a learning experience to understand what was involved.”
In addition to the in-person eyeballs that will see the Union brand on campus, there are also ancillary benefits, Cimino said, including having the Union name mentioned and seen in radio and TV broadcasts of baseball games. Thursday’s game, for example, was shown on ESPN3.
The Blacksburg banking market, which includes Christiansburg and Radford, is an important one for Union. It has nine branches in the market and controls $690 million in deposits there, the largest share of any bank doing business there. And in nearby Roanoke, Union has another eight branches and $351 million in deposits.
Pete Moris, an associate athletic director at Virginia Tech, said work on the baseball complex could begin later his year, with a target for final completion in the spring of 2018.
Beale on the mound Thursday.
He said athletic director Whit Babcock set his sights on upgrading the baseball facilities when he took over as AD in 2014.
“To really bring the park to the standard of some others in the ACC, we really needed a major donor to kick that off,” Moris said.
The school will use a design-build process for the work on the complex, which will involve fielding ideas from companies that can both design and construct the renovations.
Moris reiterated that the plan is still early in the process and there’s no firm timeline for when it will start accepting ideas from designers. There’s also no hard-dollar figure for what budget will be spent.
“There’s no blueprint right now of what this will ultimately look like,” Moris said.
Union Bank & Trust CEO Billy Beale throws out the ceremonial first pitch Thursday at the Virginia Tech baseball complex that now bears the bank’s name. Contributed photos.
Billy Beale had at least two reasons to take the mound Thursday in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech’s baseball stadium as the Hokies took on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
The first was to celebrate the signing of a $3.5 million agreement between the university and Union Bank & Trust, of which Beale is CEO, giving the bank naming rights for the school’s baseball complex.
The second reason: to test out his arm.
Beale threw out the ceremonial first pitch Thursday at the newly named English Field at Union Park, a moniker that the Richmond-based bank hopes will lead to increased visibility in one of its bigger markets in the state.
While the name change is immediate, Union is also buying into having its brand on an overhauled baseball complex thanks to a multimillion-dollar renovation plan the school is taking on over the next two years.
It’s the second deal in as many years between the school and the bank. In 2014, Union signed a sponsorship agreement for branding and signage at football games in the 65,000-seat Lane Stadium.
Union spokesman Bill Cimino said the football branding deal was what led to discussions about the baseball complex.
“The football stadium was the first time Tech had done something like that and we thought it was an interesting approach and were pleased with the way it all turned out,” Cimino said.
Tech approached the bank last spring with the idea, the plan was finalized by the end of the year, and approval from both sides was cast earlier this month. Union agreed to pay the money over a 10-year period.
The newly named English Field at Union Park.
The school is now preparing to accept designs from builders to make major changes to the baseball complex. While it’s still early in the process, the concept in mind will include adding premium seating and suites, a larger, modernized concession area, a new scoreboard, and redoing the press box and the entrance into the complex.
The school is also reworking its main entrance into campus off Route 460, which will divert most of the traffic coming in and out of the school right passed Union Park.
That part of the plan also helped seal the deal for Union, Cimino said.
“To be right there as one of the first things you see when you come into Virginia Tech was very appealing to us,” Cimino said.
Union has a penchant for placing its name in front of college sports fans around the state. It’s the official bank of UVA football and supports UVA basketball. It also has athletics sponsorships with University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, James Madison University, the College of William & Mary and others.
But the Tech baseball deal is the biggest yet for the bank.
“This is the first naming rights deal for us,” Cimino said. “It was a learning experience to understand what was involved.”
In addition to the in-person eyeballs that will see the Union brand on campus, there are also ancillary benefits, Cimino said, including having the Union name mentioned and seen in radio and TV broadcasts of baseball games. Thursday’s game, for example, was shown on ESPN3.
The Blacksburg banking market, which includes Christiansburg and Radford, is an important one for Union. It has nine branches in the market and controls $690 million in deposits there, the largest share of any bank doing business there. And in nearby Roanoke, Union has another eight branches and $351 million in deposits.
Pete Moris, an associate athletic director at Virginia Tech, said work on the baseball complex could begin later his year, with a target for final completion in the spring of 2018.
Beale on the mound Thursday.
He said athletic director Whit Babcock set his sights on upgrading the baseball facilities when he took over as AD in 2014.
“To really bring the park to the standard of some others in the ACC, we really needed a major donor to kick that off,” Moris said.
The school will use a design-build process for the work on the complex, which will involve fielding ideas from companies that can both design and construct the renovations.
Moris reiterated that the plan is still early in the process and there’s no firm timeline for when it will start accepting ideas from designers. There’s also no hard-dollar figure for what budget will be spent.
“There’s no blueprint right now of what this will ultimately look like,” Moris said.