General

Are Stadium Naming Rights Worth Anything?

Jan 21, 2010, 8:30 PM UTC

â†µNearly every stadium in the country – college and pro – has some sort of corporate name attached to it. It’s been a time-tested belief by some mega-corporations that paying a team for the naming rights to the stadium gives the company much greater value than a traditional television and radio sponsorship package. Sometimes it works, with a place like, say, Busch Stadium that features a natural tie in to the St. Louis area with its favorite export – cheap American beer. â†µ

â†µâ†µBut then there’s the other side of the naming-rights spectrum like, for example, Monster Park in San Francisco (changed back to Candlestick Park in 2008), where it always seemed unclear if the stadium was sponsored by the job-hunting website, the audio cable company or just a place where actual monsters were free to roam – like a skate park ... for actual monsters. â†µ

â†µâ†µDarren Rovell of CNBC spoke with Mike Dee, Miami Dolphins CEO and Wes Thompson, Sun Life Financial U.S. president about why the company decided to sign on with the Dolphins to be part of the seventh name change the stadium has had since 1987. â†µ

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â†µâ†µThompson told the CBNC hosts, “the value for us is really the opportunity to increase our brand awareness in the United States. At the core of our business strategy is to grow our business in the United States organically, and this is one element that will advance that strategy.” â†µ

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â†µThompson pointed out that Sun Life has strong brand recognition in Canada already, but have done nothing in the States to this point. Sun Life Financial will be paying an average of $4 million over five years to have their name associated with the stadium and likely hope to recoup a large chunk of that investment in the next few weeks. Yes, it's no surprise this deal was brokered just a few days before the Super Bowl promotion starts. â†µ

â†µâ†µIn his follow up post, Rovell questioned if having their name on a building creates enough value for companies to make this expenditure worthwhile:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Perhaps I didn’t pry enough on specifics, but I’m skeptical of what Sun Life is going to do because I’ve found that most naming rights deals are ego buys with very little activation. Most naming rights deals aren’t worth it because the company itself doesn’t make it worth it.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥Because of this deal, I now know the name Sun Life Financial. That’s the first step. Getting me to actually put my money with the product or service the company offers is the second step. And, at least for me, it’s a step that not a single company that has ever landed naming rights has ever accomplished.â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µYou would think that territorial inroads would be the most important thing. Putting your name and logo on a building, as Rovell points out, can only go so far. To involve your company in the community – which Sun Life has seemingly pledged to do in Miami – can help to build a dedicated customer base. â†µâ†µBut what about all this financial upheaval and how that’s impacted naming rights? Citi Field became a punchline before the Mets ever played a game there. We all remember the unmitigated disaster that was Enron Field, too. And how about Philadelphia, which boasts Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field and Wachovia Center all within the same complex. While all three have a strong presence in the region, none of those institutions are Philadelphia-based. The Wachovia situation is the most ridiculous. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe building was first named the CoreStates Center, tied in with a local organization. I was an intern there in the ‘90s when CoreStates was bought by First Union and we watched as our place of work became affectionately dubbed the F-U Center. Rather appropriate for Philly. Well, First Union eventually merged with Wachovia and it became the Wachovia Center and has remained so-named until it will eventually turn into something sounding like the Wells Fargo Center when the Wachovia absorption is complete. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe naming rights to that building has gone from community-based affiliation to an albatross around the neck of a multi-national conglomerate – a reminder of this country’s ridiculous financial system more than a sponsorship opportunity. Fans just call it “The Center” at this point, which is about as uninspired as you can get for the name of an arena. â†µ

â†µâ†µRovell’s point is true – most of the time naming a stadium after your company is an ego trip. Which is why I never understand how famous people who are fans of a team don’t just buy the stadium and put their own name on it. Why the Mets play in Citi Field and not Seinfeld Stadium, I’ll never know.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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