Giants’ home getting a new name

Waterfront ballpark is Oracle Park after huge naming-rights deal

The Giants finally made a splash this offseason, and while the impact on the field could take some time, the results outside the waterfront ballpark will be immediate.

Redwood Shores-based Oracle Corp. has bought the naming rights to the Giants stadium, for between $200 million-$350 million, according to various reports Wednesday night.

The team is expected to officially announce the name change from AT&T Park today at a news conference. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, which was first to report the story, temporary signage for Oracle Park will be visible around the ballpark beginning today.

According to various reports, software maker Oracle Corp. bought 20 years of naming rights with the deal.

It appears to be one of the richest naming-rights deals in North American professional sports, which seemingly would trickle through to the Giants’ product on the field. The Giants already boasted the second-highest payroll in the majors last season at around $203 million.

This is the third time the Giants have renamed their home stadium since they moved from Candlestick Park for the start of the 2000 season. Originally named Pacific Bell Park (that original naming-rights deal reportedly was for around $100 million over 24 years) it became SBC Park in 2003. Then it became AT&T Park in 2006. That’s where the Giants won three World Series titles in five years.

AT&T held the rights through next season, but gave the team a chance to opt out early if they could secure a new partner, according to the Chronicle. Giants president and CEO Larry Baer told the Chronicle that the Giants called about a half-dozen of their marketing partners to gauge interest.

“The organizations know one another well,” Baer told the Chronicle. “That’s the only way we were able to get a deal this quickly. It was hatched over the holidays.

“It’s an iconic park and we kind of view it as a landmark. We said early on we want this park to age gracefully to the point we can feel like what Fenway might feel like in Boston, and Wrigley might feel in Chicago.

“Nobody knows this park, other than AT&T, better than Oracle.”