| National
Basketball Association Naming Rights By Bill Miller
Editor's Note: The
following is part IV in an ongoing series that will examine the sale
of naming rights in various segments of the sports
industry. Previous installments addressed Major League
Baseball, professional baseball and the National Hockey
League. Our fourth installment is the National
Basketball Association...
 The
National Basketball Association has 76.6% of its
teams (23/30) playing in facilities named for corporate
sponsors or individuals who are paying for that right.
This ratio places the NBA second (behind the NHL) among
the five major professional sports
leagues in terms of teams playing in corporately-named
facilities. The NBA is also unique in that there are
only 22 agreements in place. The remaining situation is
that the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers
share the Staples Center bringing the overall total to
23.
As of this writing, only Charlotte,
Detroit, Golden State, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York
and Portland do not play in a named facility. Published
reports have the Hornets and Bobcats reportedly looking
for sponsors.
Of the twenty-three "named"
facilities, twelve are basketball-specific arenas. The
remaining eleven arrangements see the NBA franchise
sharing the arena with a National Hockey League team
and/or another NBA tenant.
Of the twenty-three named arenas, the
sponsor categories break down as follows:
-
Seven travel-related companies;
-
Five financial institutions;
-
Two retailers;
-
Two telecommunications companies;
-
One individual;
-
One shipping company;
-
One electronics-related company;
-
One automobile company;
-
One beverage company; and
-
One energy company.
The NBA naming rights agreements are
as follows:
|
Facility |
Key Tenants |
Term |
Total |
|
Air Canada Centre |
Toronto Raptors |
20 |
$40,000,000 |
|
America West Arena |
Phoenix Suns |
30 |
$26,000,000 |
|
American Airlines Arena |
Miami Heat |
20 |
$42,000,000 |
|
American Airlines Center |
Dallas Mavericks |
30 |
$195,000,000 |
|
ARCO Arena |
Sacramento Kings |
10 |
$7,500,000 |
|
Conseco Fieldhouse |
Indiana Pacers |
20 |
$95,000,000 |
|
Continental Airlines Arena |
New Jersey Nets |
10 |
$14,000,000 |
|
Delta Center |
Utah Jazz |
20 |
$25,000,000 |
|
FedEx Forum |
Memphis Grizzlies |
20 |
$90,000,000 |
|
Fleet Center |
Boston Celtics |
15 |
$30,000,000 |
|
Gund Arena |
Cleveland Cavaliers |
20 |
$14,000,000 |
|
Key Arena |
Seattle Sonics |
15 |
$15,000,000 |
|
MCI Center |
Washington Wizards |
15 |
$44,000,000 |
|
Pepsi Center |
Denver Nuggets |
20 |
$68,000,000 |
|
Philips Arena |
Atlanta Hawks |
20 |
$180,000,000 |
|
SBC Center |
San Antonio Spurs |
20 |
$41,000,000 |
|
Staples Center |
Los Angeles Lakers & Clippers |
20 |
$100,000,000 |
|
Target Center |
Minnesota Timberwolves |
15 |
$18,750,000 |
|
TD Waterhouse Center |
Orlando Magic |
5 |
$7,900,000 |
|
Toyota Center |
Houston Rockets |
20 |
$100,000,000 |
|
United Center |
Chicago Bulls |
20 |
$20,000,000 |
|
Wachovia Center |
Philadelphia 76ers |
29 |
$40,000,000 |
The average NHL naming rights
agreement runs for approximately 19 years. There is
little consistency in the length of recently-signed
agreements. The average value is approximately $2.75 million per
year.
Updated 1/05/2005
Bill Miller is Executive Vice President at The Leib Group, LLC in Mequon, Wisconsin. He is a regular
contributor to Naming Rights Online and can be reached
at bmiller@namingrightsonline.com. |
