While the sale of naming rights has generally become more accepted over the past decade, there are still situations where their use is simply untenable or impossible. This is especially the case in existing stadiums or arenas that are named for a community benefactor or the municipality. As such, several alternatives have developed in lieu changing the name of the building to one that reflects a corporate sponsor's name.

It is important to note that these alternate methods often do not generate the dollars that a sponsor would be willing to pay for a traditional naming rights arrangement. The reason for this is sponsors are paying for media impression and customer exposure. Any reduction in that potential exposure diminishes the value of the deal for the sponsor which naturally results in them paying a lower figure for these alternate opportunities.

But in many instances, this helps facilities generate some revenue while satisfying the desires of the community to keep a more traditional name.

Interior Naming Rights

Traditionally the most lucrative of these alternatives, interior naming rights consist of a sponsor acquiring the right to name a designated portion of a stadium or arena, usually the luxury suite level. For example, it could be the "XYZ Luxury Suite Level at John Smith Stadium."

Seating sections can be named as well. Patrons could sit in the XYZ section instead of sitting in Section 322. These type of arrangements are traditionally called zone sponsorships.

Presenting Sponsorships

A presenting sponsorship is when a company is noted as helping to present the team or facility in question. For example, it could be "John Smith Stadium presented by XYZ Corporation" or "The Any Town Baseball Team presented by XYZ Corporation."

This approach is particularly effective when discussing non-profit or museum situations. For example, it could be the "War Veterans Memorial presented by XYZ Corporation."

Playing Surface Sponsorships

In this situation, the sponsor acquires the right to name the actual playing surface of the stadium or arena. For example, it could be "XYZ Field at John Smith Stadium." If league rules permit, logos or signage could be placed on the playing surface to note this relationship.

Area Sponsorships

An area sponsorship gives the company the right to decorate a designated area of a facility's concourse in an agreed upon manner. Usually, this decoration consists of company colors, products and other information about the company's products, history and place in the community. Such an approach usually does not involve any name at all. Of course, patrons could be directed to the "XYZ Concourse" if the parties agree on this concept.

Hyphenated Names

In many instances, a community that finances the construction of a sports facility is doing so in hope of generating new economic activity in their municipality. As such, they desire to have their name remain in the name of this facility in hope of securing publicity.

In an effort to accommodate these desires and generate incremental revenues, several facilities have gone with a new concept in which the municipal name is blended with a corporate name. For example, it could be "XYZ Stadium at Any Town."

While it has been commonly believed that such approaches diminish the value of the naming rights, it does not appear as if this is the case as the deals in Anaheim for the homes of the Anaheim Angels and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim fell in line with dollar amounts received by similar facilities during that time period.

Honorary Items

If the aforementioned methods are not feasible and a facility needs to be named in spite of community pressure to do otherwise, a small form of compromise is to create an honorary item that acknowledges the community or an individual who the facility was or was supposed to be named for.

The City of San Diego took such an approach when the naming rights for Jack Murphy Stadium were sold to Qualcomm in order to help finance a renovation of the building. In addition to naming field for Murphy, the city also erected a statue honoring the former sportswriter who was instrumental in bringing major league sports to the city.

Corporate Benefactor

A concept that was floated in Denver for the then-new home of the NFL Denver Broncos was to have a consortium of corporations acquire the naming rights for the facility and name it Mile High Stadium in honor of the team's former home. While the concept was publicly discussed, it was not executed as financial services company Invesco acquired the naming rights for "Invesco Field at Mile High."