The San Francisco 49ers announced Wednesday that jeans manufacturer Levi's will present a proposal for the naming rights to the team's new $1.2 billion football stadium, which is scheduled to open for the 2014 season.
Now that Florida lawmakers have opted not to approve a deal that would publicly fund improvements for the Dolphins' Sun Life Stadium, the 49ers' state-of-the-art venue is viewed as the favorite to host Super Bowl L in 2016.
Located 45 miles to the south in Santa Clara, the facility now will be called "Levi's Stadium," pending approval by the city's stadium authority Thursday. The proposed deal is worth $220 million over 20 years, with an option to extend it to 25 years. According to The Sacramento Bee, the $11 million annual average would rank behind only MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which hosts both the New York Giants and New York Jets.
Levi's was founded in 1853 by German immigrant Levi Strauss, who opened a dry goods store for gold miners in San Francisco. His firm switched from heavy brown cloth to create the first denim blue jeans in 1873, catering to manual laborers who needed tougher material to withstand the rigors of their toils.
All that's left now is to come up with the stadium's unofficial nickname. A co-worker suggested "The Big Button Fly" to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport. Niners owner Jed York trumped that one with "Field of Jeans."
We just hope the 49ers don't decide to emulate Boise State's blue turf.
Follow Chris Wesseling on Twitter @ChrisWesseling.
