| National Hockey
League Naming Rights By Bill Miller
Editor's Note: The following is
part III 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 and professional baseball. Our third installment is the National Hockey
League...
 The
National Hockey League has 87% of its
teams (26/30) playing in facilities named for corporate
sponsors or individuals who are paying for that right. This ratio puts
the NHL ahead of the other major professional sports
leagues in terms of teams playing in corporately-named
facilities.
As of this writing, only the Detroit
Red Wings, New York Islanders, New York Rangers and
Phoenix Coyotes do not play in a named facility.
Published reports have the Coyotes reportedly looking
for a sponsor for their new arena in Glendale, AZ.
Of the twenty-six "named" facilities,
sixteen are hockey-specific arenas. The remaining
ten arrangements see the NHL franchise sharing the arena
with a National Basketball Association team..
Of the twenty-six named arenas, the
sponsor categories break down as follows:
-
Six financial institutions;
-
Five travel-related companies;
-
Three electronics-related
companies;
-
Three retailers;
-
Two beverage-related companies;
-
Two telecommunications companies;
-
Two media companies;
-
One automobile company;
-
One insurance company; and
-
One energy company.
The NHL naming rights agreements are
as follows:
|
Facility |
Key Tenants |
Term |
Total |
|
Air Canada Centre |
Toronto Maple Leafs |
20 |
$40,000,000 |
|
American Airlines Center |
Dallas Stars |
30 |
$195,000,000 |
|
Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim |
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim |
13 |
$18,000,000 |
|
Bell Centre |
Montreal Canadiens |
20 |
$100,000,000 |
|
Continental Airlines Arena |
New Jersey Devils |
10 |
$14,000,000 |
|
Corel Centre |
Ottawa Senators |
20 |
$31,000,000 |
|
Fleet Center |
Boston Bruins |
15 |
$30,000,000 |
|
Gaylord Entertainment Center |
Nashville Predators |
20 |
$80,000,000 |
|
General Motors Place |
Vancouver Canucks |
20 |
$20,000,000 |
|
HP Pavilion at San Jose |
San Jose Sharks |
15 |
$47,000,000 |
|
HSBC Arena |
Buffalo Sabres |
30 |
$24,000,000 |
|
MCI Center |
Washington Capitals |
15 |
$44,000,000 |
|
Mellon Arena |
Pittsburgh Penguins |
18 |
$18,000,000 |
|
Nationwide Arena |
Columbus Blue Jackets |
Inf. |
n/a |
|
Office Depot Center |
Florida Panthers |
10 |
$14,500,000 |
|
Pengrowth Saddledome |
Calgary Flames |
20 |
$20,000,000 |
|
Pepsi Center |
Colorado Avalanche |
20 |
$68,000,000 |
|
Philips Arena |
Atlanta Thrashers |
20 |
$180,000,000 |
|
RBC Center |
Carolina Hurricanes |
20 |
$41,400,000 |
|
Rexall Place |
Edmonton Oilers |
10 |
n/a |
|
Savvis Center |
St. Louis Blues |
20 |
$70,000,000 |
|
St. Pete Times Forum |
Tampa Bay Lightning |
12 |
$30,000,000 |
|
Staples Center |
Los Angeles Kings |
20 |
$100,000,000 |
|
United Center |
Chicago Blackhawks |
20 |
$20,000,000 |
|
Wachovia Center |
Philadelphia Flyers |
29 |
$40,000,000 |
|
Xcel Energy Center |
Minnesota Wild |
25 |
$75,000,000 |
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 $2.9 million per
year.
Updated 10/05/2004
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. |
