August 24, 2011
MetLife inks Jersey naming rights deal for ... some number of millions
The MetLife naming-rights deal for the New York Jets and Giants stadium is now official, with a 25-year agreement worth a reported $17 to 20 million a year. It's unclear whether this means the payments vary, or news reports are just guessing about the amount — or, for that matter, whether the dollar figures are based on anything other than previously reported guesses.
This is actually an upgrade for MetLife, which previously was paying $7 million a year for advertising rights to a corner of the stadium. Instead, it will now get not only the name of the stadium (which will host the 2014 Super Bowl), but "120,000 square feet of branded space at the stadium's main entrance," according to the Newark Star-Ledger.
The uncertainty over the price and the inclusion of ad space at the entrance makes it tough to compare the dollar figures here to other naming-rights deals, but it's fair to say that this is a sign that the naming-rights market is returning to life, after most corporations sat it out the last few years during the recession. (With some notable exceptions.) As MetLife chief marketing officer Beth Hirschhorn explained her company's big buy: "MetLife has near ubiquitous brand awareness. This helps raise our top of mindedness." Not to mention their neologismshare.
August 19, 2011
Met Life to pay $20m/year for Meadowlands naming rights?
The New York Post is reporting that the New York Jets' and Giants' year-old home will become MetLife Stadium under the terms of a naming-rights deal to be announced in the next week. According to the paper, MetLife's payments "could range as high as $20 million year for 20 years" — though of course, we've heard that before.
The main interest here is that, if true, it means that the market for naming rights has rebounded a bit after the economic collapse, which would seem to bode well for other teams (or cities) trying to raise funds by selling their stadium name. At least, if your city is the largest media market in the U.S., and your stadium has two NFL teams playing in it.
November 06, 2009
European sports leagues are usually outside this site's purview, but sometimes we just have to take notice: For example, when the Newcastle United football team (that's soccer to you North American readers) announces that it's signed a naming rights deal to rename its 117-year-old St. James' Park to "sportsdirect.com@St James' Park Stadium" for the remainder of the season. The cost to the online sportswear merchant: Absolutely nothing, as the new name is being used to "showcase" the park's naming rights for a more long-term sale next summer. And did we mention that Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is also owner of Sports Direct?
So far British fans and the media have mostly reacted by pointing and laughing, with Telegraph columnist Jim White writing that compared to this, "FC Dallas's Pizza Hut Park is a beacon of understatement." Okay, pointing, laughing, and trying to form a fan cooperative to buy out out Ashley and turn the team into a community-owned club like in Madrid and Barcelona. Because we all know those Europeans are a bunch of socialists.
June 18, 2009
Giants sell naming rights to left shoulder
The ever-evolving naming-rights market took a new turn yesterday with the announcement that the New York Giants have struck a $35 million, 15-year deal to rename their new practice facility the Timex Performance Center — as part of which the team will wear a Timex patch on the left shoulder of their practice jerseys. The NFL recently okayed corporate logos on practice uniforms only, though you have to wonder if it's a slippery slope that's inevitably headed toward this.
June 02, 2009
Sports bubble watch: Giants waiting list has evaporated
In a Newsday column mostly about the lagging naming-rights market — both the Dallas Cowboys stadium opening this year and the New York Giants and Jets stadium opening in 2010 still haven't found buyers for their stadium names — sports business writer Neil Best reveals this tidbit as well:
The Giants are further along in their sales process but still have personal-seat licenses available at club levels for $20,000, $12,500 and $7,500 &mdash ones that come with game tickets at $700, $500 and $400.
Johnson and Mara expressed confidence that they will be sold out before the 2010 openers. But Mara confirmed that the Giants have moved through their notoriously long waiting list and that tickets now are available to the public.
What this means is that at least 60,000 Giants fans have been offered the chance to buy season tickets at the new place, and replied, "Not at those prices." See why I'm concerned for Santa Clara?
February 27, 2009
Yankees forced to take the field Opening Day with no corporate logos splashed all over everything
Bank of America won't become the Adidas of the new Yankee Stadium after all: Talks with the New York Yankees about slapping the government-bailed-out bank's name all over the place have been terminated. The Yanks aren't commenting on how this will affect their finances, but you know it's gotta hurt, so if you have $20 million a year to throw around and a burning desire to see your logo affixed to light fixtures and bullpen canopies, give Lonn Trost a call.
Also, expect this to be one of the last links to a Newsday story you see here, as Cablevision, the newspaper's owner, has announced plans to start charging for its online content, possibly as part of some kind of cable TV package. While I think that some kind of subscription (or membership) fees will ultimately be needed to help keep professional journalism alive in the digital age, still, good luck to them with that.
February 05, 2009
Bailed-out banks spend billions on ballparks
Bloomberg News has a rundown today of all the banks receiving federal bailout money that are currently engaged in naming-rights deals for sports stadiums. Given that banks have been pretty much the prime buyers of stadium names since the dot-com bust eliminated most other publicity-hungry corporations, it's a long list:
- Citigroup: Got $45 billion in TARP money, spending $400 million on rights to New York Mets stadium name.
- Bank of America: Got $45 billion in TARP, spending $140 million for Carolina Panthers naming rights. (It's also in talks with the New York Yankees on a stadium ad deal that would essentially be naming-rights without the actual stadium name - much like Adidas had at the old Yankee Stadium - and which could end up costing as much as the Citigroup/Mets deal.)
- JPMorgan Chase: Got $25 billion in TARP, spending $66 million for Arizona Diamondbacks naming rights, a deal it inherited when it bought Bank One.
- PNC: Got $7.6 billion in TARP, spending $40 million for Pittsburgh Pirates naming rights. (Yes, Pittsburgh comes cheap.)
- Bank of New York Mellon: Got $3 billion in TARP, spending $18 million for soon-to-expire naming rights to the Pittsburgh Penguins' soon-to-expire arena.
- Wells Fargo: Got $25 billion in TARP, spending $40 million for naming rights to the much-renamed Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers arena.
- Comerica: Got $2.25 billion in TARP, spending $66 million for Detroit Tigers naming rights.
- M&T Bank: Got $600 million in TARP, spending $75 million for Baltimore Ravens naming rights.
- BankAtlantic: Got $124 million in TARP, spending $27 million for Florida Panthers naming rights.
The lesson here: If you don't want government money going to sports naming-rights deals, you should probably bail out some industry other than banking.
If there's a silver lining, it's that, as Daniel Gross argues in Slate, buying giant billboards on the sides of sports facilities is actually a lot less wasteful than some other things banks could be doing with their money. Though if there's a dark cloud to that silver lining, it's that buying a billboard that only makes people say, "Hey, isn't that that bank that's only being kept solvent with federal dollars" doesn't seem to be working all that well for Citi.
February 04, 2009
"Citi Field" now even more embarrassing name than "Enron Field"
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Citigroup may try to "void" their $400 million naming-rights deal with the New York Mets, after coming under fire for the expense while getting $45 billion in bailout funds from the federal government. Today, the Mets and Citi both issued statements saying the Journal is on crack, and they accept that they have a "legally binding agreement" to name the almost-finished stadium "Citi Field."
That said, it's pretty clear at this point that the deal is an embarrassment for all concerned, and it seems like an exit strategy is in order. Over at the Village Voice blog, I suggest that the least bad solution might be to admit that the Mets will get to keep their money, but try to resell the name elsewhere, and use the proceeds to bail out the bailouters - to read the whole argument, including an interview with an actual live person who makes his living selling naming-rights deals, click the hotlink now.
January 29, 2009
Congressguys to Citigroup: "Tear Down That Stadium Sign!"
In the wake of President Obama calling Wall Street firms giving their top execs bonuses while demanding government bailouts "the height of irresponsibility," Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Republican Rep. Ted Poe have teamed up to demand another Wall Street firm cut back its profligate spending. From the press release:
In November 2006, Citigroup announced they had reached an agreement with the New York Mets to name their new stadium Citi Field. According to the terms of the agreement, Citigroup will pay the New York Mets a total of $400 million over 20 years. Citi Field opens for competition at the commencement of the 2009 baseball season.
Since this time, Citigroup's financial position has changed drastically. As you well know, Citigroup received $25 billion from the first installment of the Capital Purchase Program, authorized by Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. Since then Citigroup has received an additional $20 billion from the Targeted Investment Program as well as a federal guarantee on approximately $306 billion of loans and securities. Additionally, in November 2008 Citigroup announced their intention to cut more than 50,000 jobs from their workforce.
Citigroup is now dependent on the support of the federal government for its survival as an institution. As such, we do not believe Citigroup ought to spend $400 million to name a stadium at the same time that they accept over $350 billion in taxpayer support and guarantees.
We request that you intervene and demand that Citigroup dissolve the agreement they have with the New York Mets. Absent this outcome, we feel strongly that you should compel Citigroup to return immediately all federal monies received to date, as well as cancel all loan guarantees.
The odds on this actually happening are pretty slim - if Citigroup tried to cancel its Mets naming rights deal, Mets owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon would almost certainly sue, "good of the nation" or no. But it certainly makes things more interesting, especially given all the recent speculation on the Wilpons' Madoff-related financial woes.