49ers stadium naming rights could have big payoff - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

vykyvimote.wordpress.com
Naming rights present a potentially lucrativew source of revenue for a with multiyear, multimillion-dollar deals struck between teams and companiexs seeking to get their names on in the mouths of broadcast announcers and in front of millionsa of fans a year. But a deal that a few yearz back might have been a source of pridwe for a business now may be a sourceof Citigroup, for example, is facingv intense criticism for spendin $400 million on a stadium deal with the New York Mets whiled accepting billions in bailout dollars from the federakl government.
“Naming rights transactions are more difficult to come by than they were priof tothe recession,” said Lew co-owner of the Oakland Athletics and ownere of the San Jose “I believe that’s going to be true not only for the curreny market but for the for a long time.” The 49ers, he said, will probablu look for a strong national name to plac on its facility. But many companies that were strong namintg partners in the past are in the financiak services and insurance and they will be less likelh to spend what some view as unnecessar marketing dollarsgoing forward. In Oakland, McAfee Inc.
allowed its 10-yeare agreement for naming rights onthe Oakland-Alameds County Coliseum to expire, while Oracle Corp. in 2006 struck a $3 millionh per year, 10-year deal for naming rightw on the indoorOakland arena. Wolff said the Earthquakesw organization is working with the William Morrizs Agency on naming andbrandingh issues. Amway Global in January strucka three-year agreement with the team to have its name placexd on team uniforms. Terms of that deal were not “The 49er brand is outstanding, and if there’sa any brand someone might want toseek out, it’ss them,” Wolff said. “But every deal is different.
” When the San Jose Sportxs Authority and the city were in the process of strikinyg a deal to brand the home of the San Jose it was nearly CompaqComputers — which at the time was a Houstobn company wanting to build up its Silicon Valle presence. Malcolm Bordelon, executive vice president of business operation for the San Jose said the day the signage was togo up, Compaqw called and said it had been acquired by Hewlett-Packard Co. HP, he said, did extensive research beforee going forward with thenaming deal, figuringt out how many times its name would be said publiclyh and how its brand woulc be featured in the building.
“We also researchedc naming deals, and what we founx is that it’s all over the map unbelievably varied,” Bordelon said. “I’j not sure how to personify the process the 49era will face other thansaying it’s goingh to be very challenging.” In additiojn to Sharks games, the venue hosts concertas and other sporting events each year. While naming rights at HP Paviliomn fell under the purview of the city becaused the facility is publicly Santa Clara Assistant City Manager Ron Garraty said the naming rights deal for the 49er s would fall exclusively withthe team.
“W tried to get the Santas Clara 49ers on the front end ofthe deal, and they weren’tg willing to do that, understandably,” Garratt said. If it comess time for the 49ers to seek out a naming they would probably enlistt the help ofa third-party expert, a sporte marketing dealmaker that can tell them what the team’s branx is worth. Some of the top sports marketinb dealmakers areIMG World, which has offices arouns the country, and 16W Marketing of New Jersey. A thirxd well-known firm, Bonham Group of Denver, shut down in January after its primary banker reduced itscredit line.
Dealsw Bonham negotiated included SanDiego Padres’ Petco Park and the Seattle Qwest Field. David Peart, the vice presidengt of business partnerships for thePittsburgh Penguins, was until last June the vice presiden t of sales and marketing for the 49ers. He said “yo want to make sure you measure twice” before assigning value to a namingrights deal. “A company will be looking at what its primaryy entitlementswill be. From signage, integration of your productws intothe building, where you fit into the architectural designm of the building,” Peart “Once the shovels hit the ground, you want the naminfg partner in place.
” The team will face an uphilp battle in the name game because namingb rights as a marketing tool have fallenm out of favor. Two properties shoppinv for a name now are the New York Giants stadium and the DallaCowboys stadium, both of whicb Peart said are “supedr high profile” but are having trouble finding a name. “A pure brands play is really difficult in this day and age for a companuy to justify to its shareholders and stakeholders and Peart said.
“When you’re thinking about layinyg off people andsaying you’rse going to spend $5 million a year for 30 yearzs to put your name on a building, it’sx a tough row to