California Memorial Stadium gets new turf, ends naming right partnership with Kabam

The California Golden Bears have gotten a Memorial Stadium upgrade, thanks to the help of Under Armour! New turf!

Let’s take a look at what’s been put in place.

Cal has replaced the stadium’s previous turf with a new dark green surface of FieldTurf. More from Cal Athletics:

A dark green surface of FieldTurf, voted the top artificial surface by the NFLPA for 10 consecutive years, replaced the stadium’s previous turf. The new synthetic turf is used by 22 NFL teams and a majority of the Pac-12’s football programs. Construction began on May 13 directly following graduation and will be completed this weekend.

You may notice the Sather Stripe is also adorned on much of the new stadium, as well with the traditional California and Golden Bears wordmarks from Under Armour.

At Memorial Stadium, each end zone has been branded with Cal's new Sather Stripe design and font using the traditional California and Golden Bears wordmarks, while a gold script Cal returns across the 50-yard line

Also, there should be fun reminders that yes, you’re watching a football game along a fault line.

Fans will also notice a distinct jagged mark running along opposite corners of the field, just outside the playing area, designed to represent a fault line in recognition of the facility's unique location directly above the Hayward Fault. The fault line design has not yet been installed but will be added in the coming days.

Gone is the Kabam logo. The gaming company has ended its naming rights partnership with the university. Kabam used a contract buyout provision for one-third of the remaining value of the agreement with Cal.

The agreement with the Bears started in December 2013 and came out to 15 years and 18 million overall, so about $1.2 million a year. Cal has currently received $3.6 million through the first three years, so expect somewhere from around $4.4 to $4.8 million from Kabam from the buyout, depending on when Kabam withdrew from the naming rights partnership.

“I’d like to thank CEO Kevin Chou and Kabam for their partnership with our department and campus,” Director of Athletics Mike Williams said. “Our relationship extended beyond the written agreement, as Kevin’s roots with the University run very deep, from his days as a business student to currently serving as a trustee for the UC Berkeley Foundation.”

“We plan to start looking for a new naming rights partner immediately,” Williams said. “While we don’t have a timeline yet, we will be seeking a partner that matches the values of both our campus and our athletic department.”

So Cal gets free money and they get to look for a new naming rights partnership! Good times.

We’ll have more on the Haas Pavilion upgrades shortly.