Galaxy is putting its name on Texas Tech Stadium in a 15-year native cryptocurrency deal

Starting in the 2026 season, Texas Tech’s football stadium – currently Jones AT&T Stadium– It will be rebranded Galaxy Stadium. Galaxy Digital, the Nasdaq-listed (GLXY) trading, asset management and data center company, announced a 15-year naming rights deal with Texas Tech on Friday.

The timing is right for the Red Raiders. Texas Tech just won the Big 12 and made the College Football Playoff. The team opens its new era at Galaxy Stadium on Sept. 5 against Abilene Christian.

“We are pleased to welcome the Galaxy as a new naming rights partner for our soccer stadium,” Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said in a statement. statement. “This long-term partnership with the Galaxy will have a lasting impact on Texas Tech Athletics.”

Through this deal, valued at more than $70 million, Galaxy becomes the official data center and digital asset partner of Texas Tech Athletics, with brands across football and men’s and women’s basketball, as well as zero-sum student-athlete opportunities through “branded activation campaigns and original content.”

“At our Helios campus in nearby Dickens County, we are building the infrastructure that supports the code economy,” said Mike Novogratz, Galaxy CEO.

Galaxy is pouring billions into Project Helios, a data center located in Dickens County with 1.6 gigawatts of certified capacity for high-performance computing. Novogratz described it as “the infrastructure that supports the crypto economy,” promising to hire locally and “be a good neighbor.”

Why would a cryptocurrency company want a football stadium? Visibility and credibility – and naming rights buy both. crypto.com I did it With F1 Miami Grand Prix. FTX I tried it With the NBA arena — right before it explodes, it’s a helpful reminder that 15-year deals with cryptocurrency companies carry 15-year risks.

Galaxy itself has had a rollercoaster ride. Its shares fell after a $482 million quarterly lossand has aggressively shifted from pure cryptocurrency trading to the more stable, power-hungry business of AI data centers and high-performance computing.

This axis is the strategic logic. Bitcoin miners and local crypto companies have become the unexpected owners of the AI ​​boom, as Bernstein calls them.”Power brokers are unlikely“In the infrastructure race. Galaxy’s Helios build is among the largest in North America.

But high-volume data centers in West Texas are vulnerable to drought as well Draw backlash On water and grid stress, the Galaxy’s “closed-loop” water system will be tested by exactly this audit.