The Mets have signed a 10-year naming-rights agreement with credit card processor First Data for the club’s Spring Training facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla. What was Tradition Field will now be known as First Data Field. Financial terms were not disclosed, but such recent deals have often reached low six figures in annual value. Publix last year signed a $3M deal, payable over the next 15 years, to have the naming rights to the Tigers’ Spring Training facility in Lakeland, Fla., through ’36. Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine earlier this month signed a 15-year deal to change the name of the Pirates’ facility in Bradenton to LECOM Park. First Data has held an existing relationship with the Mets, and last year sponsored a “Veteran of the Game” at each home game at Citi Field. The new agreement follows St. Lucie County approval in November for a $55M upgrade to the facility, where the Mets have trained since ’88. The building is also home to the Single-A Flordia State League St. Lucie Mets. First Data last year partnered with Austin-based Bypass to create integrated point-of-sale systems at sports facilities.
