By Bill Miller

In the process of dealing with clients and people interested in the naming rights field, I often receive inquiries about why teams haven't sold naming rights for themselves up to this point.

In light of the continual need for revenue generation and growth, this question is not too surprising. After all, teams around the world are named for corporate sponsors and it's only natural to assume that the trend would eventually reach the North American shores.

In fact, those of us who follow the industry undoubtedly remember the relatively recent attempt by the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies to rename themselves as the Memphis Express reportedly in honor of a corporate sponsor (Memphis-based shipping company FedEx) upon their relocation to Tennessee.

While teams and leagues are always looking to generate incremental revenues, it is not surprising that the National Basketball Association rejected the Grizzlies' attempts to complete this arrangement as there are several reasons why the time for team naming rights has not yet arrived.

First, the major professional sports leagues missed out on the stadium and arena naming rights boom. Virtually all of the revenues derived from the sale of facility naming rights sale was funneled to the teams or the municipalities that owned the building. There was no participation by the leagues and they undoubtedly want to make sure not to repeat that mistake.

Second, sponsors will undoubtedly desire the brand recognition and association created by team naming rights. However, the industry trend for naming rights agreements is toward including business generation and customer development opportunities. There are a finite amount of inventory available for teams and facilities. Thus, the problem is that the inclusion of such opportunities could cause conflict between team naming rights and stadium/arena naming rights.

Finally, the intellectual property and licensing issues that could arise out of a team naming rights agreement would be immense. Advertising, sponsorship and media contracts would undoubtedly be affected with the financial repercussions unknown at this point.

Until these issues are resolved, team naming rights, especially on the major league level, appear to be a revenue stream in waiting...

Posted 4/5/04

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.