Wake Forest football stadium to be called BB&T Field

Wake

Forest
University and BB&T Corporation announced a
10-year agreement to rename the
Wake
Forest football stadium as “BB&T Field at

Wake
Forest

University”
beginning with the 2008 season.

A brief
renaming ceremony for the 31,500-seat stadium between Reynolds and Deacon
boulevards currently known as Groves Stadium will be held between the first and
second quarters of the Deacons’ 2007 home-opening game against

Nebraska on Saturday.
BB&T Chairman and CEO John A. Allison and WFU President Nathan O. Hatch will
be present for the event.

”
Wake
Forest
University and BB&T are both major hometown
institutions,” said Ron Wellman, director of athletics at

Wake
Forest.
“We both share the same vision of

Winston-Salem
in terms of values, ideals and a future vision for the community.”

Acquiring
the naming rights for the

Wake

Forest football stadium
is another significant step for the company in its growing and more focused sports
marketing program. BB&T is also involved in NASCAR, college and high school
sports, minor league baseball events and the NFL.

BB&T
was recently granted naming rights to an 11-field soccer complex just outside
Winston-Salem, one of the premier soccer facilities in
North Carolina, officially named last month as ”

BB&T
Soccer
Park.”

“We’re
proud of our close relationship with

Wake

Forest
University
and the Demon Deacons athletics program,” said BB&T Chief Marketing
Officer Steve Wiggs. “This agreement takes BB&T’s long association
with the university to a higher level, just as the football team is realizing its
best performance ever on the field.

“I
know
Winston-Salem and
Wake

Forest alumni everywhere are proud of last
season’s ACC champions, and I hope our clients and employees will feel an added
sense of pride and home field advantage every time they see BB&T Field at

Wake
Forest

University.”

Attendance
at

Wake
Forest football games has soared over
the last six years, consistent with the arrival of head coach Jim Grobe. In
2006, the Deacons played at home in front of three of the top 10 crowds in
stadium history. The Deacons averaged 32,515 fans per home game last year to
break the school record for season average. WFU has broken its season
attendance average in three of the last four years.

Demon
Deacon head football coach Jim Grobe said, “We are very appreciative of
the support for our football program from BB&T. Their support is a key to
our success and keeps

Wake

Forest football on the
fast track.”