Part One was a month ago. Now, Metropolitan Corporate Counsel takes a further overview look at how the major pro sports league exploit their playing facilities as revenue streams: Namely, via naming rights and amenitized in-stadium premiums like luxury boxes, club seating and personal seat licenses.
As I pointed out a while back, the New York metro area is lately leading the way in terms of naming rights deal, dollar-wise:
Thus, in a span of less than three months, three New York area teams from different sports generated almost $1 billion in sponsorship fees. Such astronomical numbers can be attributed not only to the location of the facilities, but also to the pent-up demand for such agreements. Indeed, prior to this string of deals, the last naming rights agreement in the New York area had been in 1996 when Continental Airlines put its name on the former Brendan Byrne Arena in New Jersey’s Meadowlands sports complex.
And it’s always important to remember that, just because a stadium name remains unblemished by corporate rechristening, that doesn’t shut the door on selling select facility components:
Similarly, although the Yankees do not plan (at this time) on renaming their new $800 million palace - as the Yankee Stadium moniker is as sacrosanct as names can be in sports - they do plan on selling naming rights for each gate at the stadium. In light of the history, popularity, and importance of the New York Yankees, these mini naming rights deals should prove very profitable as well.
By the same token, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Yankees sell the naming rights to the actual playing field — something like “Merrill Lynch Field at Yankee Stadium”.
As with the first edition of this report, there’s not much new here. But it’s a good summation of the current landscape of big-time sports business leveraging.
Category: SportsBiz, New Yorkin'
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