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Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
V. Developing the
Integrated Marketing
Communications Program
17. Public Relations,
Publicity, and Corporate
Advertising
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
IMC PERSPECTIVE 17-2
Naming Stadiums—an Expensive and Risky Business
There was a time when stadiums
and arenas were named
after their sports teams and/or
cities. There were the Boston
Gardens in Boston, Tiger Stadium
in Detroit, Wimbledon in
Wimbledon, and Old Trafford in
Old Trafford (where the Manchester
United U.K. football
team plays). But all of that has
changed. Boston Gardens is
now the Fleet Center (named
after a bank), and stadiums
named after companies include
Conseco Fieldhouse (home of
the Indiana Pacers and named
after an insurance company),
Reebok Stadium (sports equipment
and apparel), Bradford
and Bingley Stadium (savings and loan) in the U.K., and
ANZ Stadium (bank), North Power Stadium (power company),
and Aussie Stadium (Aussie Home Loans) in Australia.
Let’s not forget Qualcomm Stadium (San Diego),
PNB Park (Pittsburgh), and the United Center
(Chicago). And the list goes on.
What’s behind the name changes? According to Liz
Miller, former sports executive, it’s “money, money,
money”—and a lot of it. Consider the following amounts,
which were paid for naming rights: FedEx Field (Washington,
D.C., 27 years), $205 million; American Airlines
Center (Dallas, Texas, 30 years), $4,195 million; ANZ Stadium
(Brisbane, Australia), $27 million ($50 million in
Australian dollars); Molson Centre (Montreal, Canada,
20 years) $21 million ($33 million in Canadian dollars);
and Eircom Park (Dublin, Ireland, 20 years) $21 million
($23 million in euros). And the prices continue to escalate,
as there are apparently more investors than there
are stadiums and arenas.
Why would companies be willing to pay that much?
One reason is to create the brand awareness and highprofile
exposure that come with having one’s name
associated with a sports franchise. Another is to make
an impression on Wall Street, indicating that the company
has now become a major force in the market. Every
time someone attends the venue or watches a game
broadcast from the stadium, he or she sees the company
name, argue the buyers—and the payback is well
worth it. Consumers remember the names of corporate
sponsors, says Jed Pearsall, president of Performance
Research, a Rhode Island–based market research firm.
And, finally, the ability to interact and network with the
cities and their franchises adds value, the buyers say.
Is it really worth it—either to the companies or the
franchises themselves? You may remember Enron
Field in Houston, named after the now unpopular
Enron Corporation. That deal
wasn’t so good for the franchise
or the city of Houston.
Savvis Communications (St.
Louis), Fruit of the Loom
(Miami), and PSINet (Baltimore)
are others whose names
appeared on stadiums or arenas
before they went bankrupt.
Then there is the TWA Dome,
where the St. Louis Rams play.
TWA, bankrupt, was bought
out by American Airlines. In
such cases, the stadium names
don’t bode well for the cities,
whose teams become associated
with the problems, and
they are particularly bad for
the franchises, which often
end up in court with other bankruptcy creditors.
Then there are the public relations and publicity
aspects of the deals. As long as things are going well,
the move looks like a good one. But a number of problems
other than bankruptcy can lead to PR nightmares.
For example, in Denver, fans wanted to keep the
name Mile High Stadium when a new field was built.
They initiated a lawsuit when the naming rights were
sold to Invesco for $120 million—bad publicity. Soldier
Field in Chicago was named in memory of World War I
veterans. When the city council sought naming rights,
many people were not very happy (as you might imagine!).
When people in Southern California felt that they
were being ripped off by their electric company, Southern
California Edison, they wondered about the utility’s
investment in Edison Field. In general, the public
often wonders whether companies are spending their
monies wisely when they pay such large amounts of
money for naming rights. They wonder even more
when the same companies go bankrupt.
Consider the case of the Portland, Oregon, triple-A
baseball team (whose stadium happens to be called
PGE Park). The team gained publicity by having an
“Arthur Andersen Appreciation Night” promotion in
which there were paper shredding competitions and
in-stadium money certificates hidden throughout the
stadium. Anyone named Arthur or Andersen got in
free, and the first Arthur Andersen received a gift pack
and free suite for the game—all a tongue-in-cheek
event making fun of Arthur Andersen, Enron’s accounting
agency. And then, of course, people think about
Enron Field.
Sources: Tim Nudd, “Enron Field,” Adweek, July 15, 2002, p. 34; Greg
Johnson, “Some Fumbles in Arena Name Game,” Los Angeles
Times, Apr. 20, 2001, pp. C1–3; brandchannel.com.