After decades as the Walter Pyramid, Long Beach State’s dramatic arena may soon get a new name as part of an $8.5 million sponsorship deal with LBS Financial Credit Union.
On Wednesday, the Cal State University board of trustees will decide whether to approve the deal and rechristen the facility — home to the NCAA national men’s volleyball champions — as LBS Financial Pyramid for a 12-year period.
Bobby Smitheran, executive director of athletics at Long Beach State, said these dollars will support scholarships, programs and upgrades that will “help us forge a path forward” and enter “a new era of college athletics” as the NCAA landscape has changed significantly.
Generous sponsorship deals have funded the pyramid before. The pyramid was built in 1994 to the tune of $22 million, a price tag that forced the university to look for a sponsor, said Barbara Kingsley-Wilson, CSULB lecturer and the “unofficial historian of the university,” according to her colleagues.
The university tried to secure a JetBlue sponsorship (matching the pyramid’s cobalt color) and considered erecting a massive orange sphere (the 76 gas station logo), Kingsley-Wilson said. Ultimately, Mike and Arline Walter, longtime supporters of the university, “came to the rescue,” Kingsley-Wilson, donating $2 million. In 2005, the sports complex was officially named the Walter Pyramid.
Since then, Smitheran said financial demands have skyrocketed. A recent settlement agreement eliminates scholarship limits and allows universities to pay athletes directly through revenue sharing. Those changes create opportunities to attract new talent, Smitheran said, but they are costly. “Everybody’s trying to be as creative as they can in this environment.”
On top of that, Long Beach State is experiencing rising costs across its budget — everything from “how our teams travel, how they eat, what gear they receive,” Smitheran said.
“The college athletics landscape is evolving rapidly, and we need to evolve with it,” Mike Walter said in a press release. Walter, former dean of the College of Business and former vice president of Levi Strauss & Co., signaled his understanding of the financial realities precipitating the university to seek a new sponsorship with the credit union.
LBS Financial Credit Union, which was founded in 1935 and first operated out of Wilson High School classrooms, according to President and CEO Sean Hardeman, has a history of generous donations to the university, according to the CSU Committee on Institutional Advancement.
LBS Financial will provide the funding upfront, allowing the university to use the money immediately. The Campus Activities Fund will receive $850,000, benefitting all students. But the vast majority of the gift will be dedicated to improving the student-athlete experience, Smitheran said.
Some money may go to much-needed facility upgrades, Smitheran said, adding that he was not able to share details about how funding will be distributed until the board of trustees approves the agreement.
The Walter Pyramid has a history of structural problems, including a leaky roof that has forced Long Beach State to move basketball games and a partial ceiling collapse earlier this year. The university is undertaking a Pyramid Facility Improvement Project and conducting studies to understand the aging building’s roofing challenges.
But the university indicated that the bulk of the funding will be allocated to enhanced scholarship support. “Student athletes are our north star,” Smitheran said. He said Beach Athletics will look at all facets of the student-athlete experience and determine what investments will have the greatest impact, both short and long term.
Smitheran said he has solicited student input via the Student Athlete Activities Committee, Leadership Council and end-of-semester surveys, which revealed unique and diverse needs across programs ranging from gear to nutrition to facilities.
Smitheran characterized the potential sponsorship as “tremendously exciting,” but one alum, Lori Peacock, reflected some disappointment about the name change. The pyramid “has so much history, and it’s just a shame,” she said. “Times change.”
Yet the Walters’ impact on the university, which CSULB president Andrew Jones called “as iconic as the pyramid facility itself,” will still be honored. The CSU Committee on Institutional Advancement has indicated that a new naming, elsewhere on campus, is in the works.