Groves Stadium is gone

from the Wake Forest University Athletics web site:

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest University and BB&T Corporation today announced a 10-year agreement to rename the Wake Forest football stadium as “BB&T Field at Wake Forest University” beginning with the 2008 season.

A brief renaming ceremony for the 31,500-seat stadium between Reynolds and Deacon boulevards – currently known as Groves Stadium – will be held between the first and second quarters of the Deacons’ 2007 home-opening game against Nebraska on Saturday. BB&T Chairman and CEO John A. Allison and WFU President Nathan O. Hatch will be present for the event.

“Wake Forest University and BB&T are both major hometown institutions,” said Ron Wellman, director of athletics at Wake Forest. “We both share the same vision of Winston-Salem in terms of values, ideals and a future vision for the community.”

Acquiring the naming rights for the Wake Forest football stadium is another significant step for the company in its growing and more-focused sports marketing program. BB&T is also involved in NASCAR, college and high school sports, minor league baseball events and the NFL. BB&T was recently granted naming rights to an 11-field soccer complex just outside Winston-Salem, one of the premier soccer facilities in North Carolina – officially named last month as “BB&T Soccer Park.”

Attendance at Wake Forest football games has soared over the last six years, consistent with the arrival of head coach Jim Grobe. In 2006, the Deacons played at home in front of three of the top 10 crowds in stadium history. The Deacons averaged 32,515 fans per home game last year to break the school record for season average. WFU has broken its season attendance average in three of the last four years.

Demon Deacon head football coach Jim Grobe said, “We are very appreciative of the support for our football program from BB&T. Their support is a key to our success and keeps Wake Forest football on the fast track.
*****go to www.wakeforestsports.cstv.com for more details*****

9 thoughts on “Groves Stadium is gone

  1. Wake went to the Orange Bowl last year. What Bowl was Bama in? Has Alabama ever played in a BCS Bowl, had any success in the current century? When you want to talk ‘Real” football, do you mean the other SEC schools? Has it gotten so bad at Alabama that you have to ride the coat tails of Florida and LSU??

    Wake Forest had 35,000 per game watching Orange Bowl Bound football. Meanwhile, in Tuscaloosa, they had 93,000 watching practice. Quality over Quanity. Real BCS football over practice.

  2. Also I don’t think the SEC is that involved in the “Greensboro sports” (does that name sound familiar?) scene. Maybe you’re thinking of Greenbow, Alabama, where Forrest Gump lived or his girlfriend was from or something.

  3. Does the #12 ring a bell with you guys—as in 12 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS from the TIDE—also the most bowl victories of all time—for WF to win the ACC that shows how bad ACC football really is these days.

  4. I had no clue that Bama had 12 national championships in their history. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

    Why would anyone pay for the naming rights to Groves Stadium? The only reason these guys average 28-33K a year is due to other fans traveling up for the game. That being said, Wake is always a nice away game to go to. I would rank it right behind Kenan as far as friendliness to opposing fans.

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