Lithia to sponsor hometown sports park for 5 years
Lithia & Driveway, which operates more than 180 auto dealerships in the U.S. and Canada, is teaming up with its hometown in a five-year partnership for naming-rights opportunities for the multi-sports complex. The complex is currently known as U.S. Cellular Community Park.
If the partnership is approved by the Medford city council, the new sponsorship will result in a name change to Lithia & Driveway Fields on the first of the new year. In 2020, Lithia launched Driveway.com, an e-commerce platform for buying, selling, trading and financing cars.
“We’re thrilled to play a key role in fostering local and regional sports in the Rogue Valley,” said Bryan DeBoer, Lithia and Driveway’s president and CEO, in the news release announcing the move. “The valley is our home base, and this special sponsorship of the sports fields embodies our Lithia 4Kids efforts to provide opportunities for young people in the communities we serve.”
On top of the naming-rights opportunities, the dealer group's $725,000 donation will annually accelerate ongoing, turf replacement of the park’s 15 fields, as well as supply in-kind support from advertising and marketing resources to enhance the park’s branding as a regional sports destination, the dealer group shared.
The city and company will also collaborate to develop a new park logo and update the existing park’s large signs along Interstate 5, South Pacific Highway and Lowry Lane in an effort to attract the attention of the 18 to 20 million people who drive by the park every year.
“This is an exciting opportunity to partner with a great community leader in Lithia & Driveway,” City manager Brian Sjothun said in the news announcement. “The partnership will help the City further promote recreational and competitive sports offered for the area and to those who travel to Medford for tournaments and events.”
Since 2008, the park has hosted over 550 tournaments and 55,000 games of soccer, softball, and baseball, generating more than $125 million in estimated economic impact to the local economy.
In the past, Lithia & Driveway has also worked the city to support local parks, such as Pear Blossom and Liberty parks in The Commons downtown, and community events, such as the Winter Lights Festival.
“Advancing community engagement is a goal we champion at Lithia,” said DeBoer. “Parks bring diverse user groups together where we compete, play and enjoy the outdoors together.”
