It's a big first day for Lumen Field: Kyler Murray is coming to town to take on the Seahawks.
No, there weren't any typos in that sentence. Seattle's home stadium has been renamed Lumen Field from CenturyLink Field. The move reflects the company CenturyLink's rebranding in September as Lumen Technologies. And now Lumen Field will get a national stage right away with Thursday Night Football on Fox and NFL Network televising nationally a key NFC West showdown between the Seahawks and visiting Cardinals.
As of Thursday morning on the west coast, the new names was still pending approval by the Washington State Public Stadium Authority, according to The Seattle Times.
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Why is CenturyLink Field called Lumen Field?
In September, the telecommunications company CenturyLink, which owns the Seattle stadium's naming rights, underwent a rebranding process. Three separate entities came out of the rebranding: Lumen Technologies, Quantum Fiber and CenturyLink. CenturyLink paid $162.7 million in 2017 for the naming rights from 2019-2033.
According to FierceTelecom.com, "Lumen Technologies' platform brings together a global fiber network, edge cloud capabilities, and security and communication and collaboration solutions while Quantum Fiber is a subscription-based, fully digital platform for delivering fiber-based products and services to residents and small businesses. The CenturyLink brand will continue to be used for residential and small business customers over traditional networks."
With Lumen Technologies looking to be the major future of the rebranded company, it makes sense that the rights-holders would want the most important name to their pockets to be reflected in the name of the stadium they bought rights to name.
What is 'Lumen'?
Lumen Technologies is the newly rebranded portion of CenturyLink that has been accounted for in the Seattle stadium's new name.
It's not hard to figure out the origins of the word "lumen" — it's the exact Latin word that means "light."
How long was Seattle's stadium called CenturyLink Field?
The Seahawks' stadium became known as CenturyLink Field in 2011. That's when CenturyLink purchased Qwest Communications, which had previously held the stadium's naming rights.
Seahawks stadium name history
Lumen Field becomes the fourth name for the current home of the Seattle Seahawks, which opened in 2002. Here's the rundown:
- Seahawks Stadium (2002-2004)
- Qwest Field (2004-2011)
- CenturyLink Field (2011-2020)
- Lumen Field (2020-?)
Who plays at Lumen Field?
The former CenturyLink Field, now known as Lumen Field, is the home field for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and Major League Soccer's Seattle Sounders. In addition, the XFL's Seattle Dragons played there in their brief 2020 season.
The stadium seats more than 68,000 people for NFL games and more than 37,000 for MLS games. When fans are allowed in the stadium, it's considered one of the toughest road environments in both the NFL and MLS, with Seahawks' fans having been dubbed the "12th Man."