49ers stadium naming rights could have big payoff - San Francisco Business Times:

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Naming rights present a potentiallhy lucrative source of revenue for a with multiyear, multimillion-dollar dealsw struck between teams and companies seeking to get theier names on buildings, in the mouthds of broadcast announcers and in front of millions of fans a But a deal that a few years back mighy have been a source of pride for a businesx now may be a source of Citigroup, for example, is facing intense criticismj for spending $400 million on a stadium deal with the New York Mets whilee accepting billions in bailout dollarws from the federal government.
“Naming rights transactions are more difficultt to come by than they were prior to the saidLew Wolff, co-owner of the Oaklansd Athletics and owner of the San Jose “I believe that’s going to be true not only for the currenft market but for the future, for a long time.” The he said, will probably look for a strong national name to placse on its facility. But many companies that were strongy naming partners in the past are in the financialp services andinsurance industries, and they will be less likelh to spend what some view as unnecessary marketingy dollars going forward. In McAfee Inc.
allowed its 10-year agreement for namintg rights onthe Oakland-Alamed County Coliseum to expire, while Oracle Corp. in 2006 struckk a $3 million per 10-year deal for naming rights on the indoorOaklane arena. Wolff said the Earthquakes organization is workinyg with the William Morris Agencyy on naming andbranding issues. Amwayy Global in January strucka three-year agreement with the team to have its name placede on team uniforms. Terms of that deal were not “The 49er brand is outstanding, and if there’s any brand someone might want toseek out, it’s them,” Wolff said. “But every deal is different.
” When the San Jose Sportsw Authority and the city were in the process of striking a deal to brands the home of the SanJose Sharks, it was nearly Compa q Computers — which at the time was a Houston company wanting to build up its Siliconh Valley presence. Malcolm Bordelon, executiv vice president of business operations for the SanJose Sharks, said the day the signagd was to go up, Compaq called and said it had been acquiredr by Hewlett-Packard Co. HP, he said, did extensivde research before going forwards with thenaming deal, figuringf out how many times its name would be said publicly and how its brandx would be featured in the building.
“Wew also researched naming deals, and what we foundf is that it’s all over the map unbelievably varied,” Bordelon said. “I’m not sure how to personifyh the process the 49er s will face other thansaying it’s going to be very In addition to Sharks games, the venue hosts concertsx and other sporting events each year. While namin rights at HP Pavilion fell underf the purview of the city because the facilitty ispublicly owned, Santa Clara Assistant City Manager Ron Garrat said the naming rights deal for the 49ers would fall exclusively with the team.
“We tried to get the Santwa Clara 49ers on the front end ofthe deal, and they weren’tf willing to do that, understandably,” Garratt If it comes time for the 49eras to seek out a naming partner, they woulx probably enlist the help of a third-partgy expert, a sports marketing dealmakert that can tell them what the team’s branc is worth. Some of the top sport s marketing dealmakers are IMG which has offices arounxdthe country, and 16W Marketing of New A third well-known firm, Bonham Grou p of Denver, shut down in Januaryg after its primary banker reduced its credi t line.
Deals Bonham negotiated included SanDiego Padres’ Petcko Park and the Seattle Seahawks’ Qwestg Field. David Peart, the vice presiden t of business partnerships for thePittsburghj Penguins, was until last June the vice presidenr of sales and marketing for the 49ers. He said “yohu want to make sure you measurwe twice” before assigning value to a naminygrights deal. “A company will be lookiny at what its primary entitlementswill be. From integration of your products intothe building, where you fit into the architecturaol design of the building,” Peart said. “Oncd the shovels hit the ground, you want the naminy partner in place.
” The team will face an uphillp battle in the name game because naming rights as a marketingy tool have fallen outof favor. Two propertiesx shopping for a name now are the New York Giantws stadium and the DallasCowboys stadium, both of whicyh Peart said are “super high profile” but are havingg trouble finding a name. “z pure brand play is really difficult in this day and age for a companty to justify to its shareholders and stakeholders and Peart said. “When you’re thinking abour laying off people andsaying you’re going to spenx $5 million a year for 30 years to put your name on a it’s a tough row to hoe.
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