As opening season for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp approaches April 1, the city issued a permit March 20 for a new sign on the top section of the VyStar Ballpark scoreboard.
The signage comes as the baseball stadium completes its Project Next renovations in time for the 2025 season.
B&S Signs Inc. of St. Augustine is the contractor for the $11,000 project to put up a sign that says VyStar Ballpark with the VyStar compass logo.
Roughly 10 feet by 59 feet, the sign signals the sponsorship by Jacksonville-based VyStar Credit Union, which bought former sponsor 121 Financial Credit Union in March 2024.
The ballpark is at 301 A. Philip Randolph in the Downtown Sports and Entertainment District. The city owns the park and ASM Global manages the facility.
In February 2024, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp announced the $31.8 million publicly funded Project Next renovation plan for the ballpark.
The plan includes a larger video board, enhanced club space behind home plate, a new multilevel building in right field and a front porch and center field plaza to welcome fans.
The city, through its Capital Improvement Plan, made improvements required by Major League Baseball.
The naming rights to the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville were part of VyStar Credit Union’s merger agreement with 121 Financial Credit Union and will run through 2040, according to a Dec. 5, 2024, news release from the Jumbo Shrimp.
Ken Babby, team owner and CEO, said in that release that Project Next was fully funded by the city. The team lease runs through March 2043.
Babby said renovations would be completed in phases by the opening of the 2025 season.
Project Next is the first major renovation to 121 Financial Ballpark since its opening in 2003, the news release said.
Babby bought the minor league baseball team, then known as the Jacksonville Suns, in 2015.
In 2020, 121 Financial Credit Union became the naming rights sponsor of the Jumbo Shrimp’s ballpark.