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By Randy Covitz/The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Friday, August 29, 2008 11:04 AM CDT
The Chiefs moved closer Thursday to joining the rising ranks of sports teams with corporate names attached to their stadiums.
The club announced that it has entered into an agreement with IMG, a global sports and entertainment company, to pursue a sponsor for naming rights to Arrowhead Stadium.
But the desire of the late Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt will be honored. Whatever corporate name is adopted by the stadium, which opened in 1972, "Arrowhead" will be included.
"As we go down the path of bringing in a partner on the field, we would like to keep Arrowhead part of the name," said Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt.
The Chiefs hope to secure a long-term naming-rights deal worth $5.5 million a year for the stadium and $800,000 for the practice facility, said Bill Newman, the Chiefs senior vice president/administration.
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Newman said the lease with Jackson County "does provide the team is entitled to any and all rights fees that we are able to attract." The Chiefs previously had an agreement with Premier Sports Marketing to help secure a naming-rights holder, but that deal expired.
"They had done mostly soccer stadiums," Newman said of Premier, "and IMG has far-reaching tentacles that go throughout this nation and globally, and we're going to do a six-month deal with them and see how it goes. It has an opportunity to go further."
Of the 32 teams in the NFL, half play in stadiums that have naming rights, including all three of the Chiefs' AFC West rivals, San Diego, Oakland and Denver. Next year, the Dallas Cowboys will move into a new stadium that will have naming rights expected to generate substantial revenue. It's possible that the new stadium the New York Giants and New York Jets share also will have lucrative naming rights.
"Given the competitiveness of the business, we want to maximize everything we can," Newman said. "We've been looking at this on a regional basis and aggressively talking to people for a year and a half, and we decided we need to reach out further than just the regional area, and IMG fits the bill."
Gary Pluchino, senior vice president of IMG, will oversee the project from New York City. IMG also will manage a Kansas City-based sales and marketing team that will work full time with the Chiefs organization.
"We are delighted that a world-class organization like the Chiefs has decided to align itself with IMG and our local and national sales capabilities," said Pluchino. "With a renovated Arrowhead Stadium that will enhance the experience for fans and offer more brand interaction for marketers, we look forward to helping the Chiefs secure a naming-rights partner and maximize the commercial rights of this legendary stadium and franchise."
Arrowhead is in the midst of a $375 million renovation project, scheduled to be completed by 2010. With more than 77,000 seats, it is the third-largest stadium in the NFL. The Chiefs have ranked among the top three teams in attendance for nearly 20 years, which means more than 750,000 fans at the stadium and millions more on television will be exposed to the corporate sponsor's name each game.
"There are a lot of things that go with this," Newman said. "It's not just slapping a name on a building. It's a fully integrated marketing program."
And don't underestimate the value of the naming rights for the Chiefs' new practice facility, which is not typically open to the public.
"(The media) sees it," Newman said. "With the exception of game day, every sound bite that comes out of here is going to come out of that practice facility.
"When Terrell Owens was going crazy up in Philadelphia a few years ago, the Nova Care Center owned the market," Newman said of the health-care company that has the naming rights to the Eagles' practice facility. "That's a very attractive naming deal. It's probably more attractive on a regional basis than on a national basis, whereas the (Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field) has greater value on a national scale."
Asked when he'd like to see a naming-rights deal in place, Newman said: "Ideally, it would be great to have it today. But obviously we'd like to have something by 2010."
@ Go to Kansas City.com to post your choice for Arrowhead Stadium's new name.
To reach Randy Covitz, call 816-234-4796 or send e-mail to rcovitz@kcstar.com.
To see more of The Kansas City Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kansascity.com.
Friday, August 29, 2008 11:04 AM CDT
The Chiefs moved closer Thursday to joining the rising ranks of sports teams with corporate names attached to their stadiums.
The club announced that it has entered into an agreement with IMG, a global sports and entertainment company, to pursue a sponsor for naming rights to Arrowhead Stadium.
But the desire of the late Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt will be honored. Whatever corporate name is adopted by the stadium, which opened in 1972, "Arrowhead" will be included.
"As we go down the path of bringing in a partner on the field, we would like to keep Arrowhead part of the name," said Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt.
The Chiefs hope to secure a long-term naming-rights deal worth $5.5 million a year for the stadium and $800,000 for the practice facility, said Bill Newman, the Chiefs senior vice president/administration.
ADVERTISEMENT
Newman said the lease with Jackson County "does provide the team is entitled to any and all rights fees that we are able to attract." The Chiefs previously had an agreement with Premier Sports Marketing to help secure a naming-rights holder, but that deal expired.
"They had done mostly soccer stadiums," Newman said of Premier, "and IMG has far-reaching tentacles that go throughout this nation and globally, and we're going to do a six-month deal with them and see how it goes. It has an opportunity to go further."
Of the 32 teams in the NFL, half play in stadiums that have naming rights, including all three of the Chiefs' AFC West rivals, San Diego, Oakland and Denver. Next year, the Dallas Cowboys will move into a new stadium that will have naming rights expected to generate substantial revenue. It's possible that the new stadium the New York Giants and New York Jets share also will have lucrative naming rights.
"Given the competitiveness of the business, we want to maximize everything we can," Newman said. "We've been looking at this on a regional basis and aggressively talking to people for a year and a half, and we decided we need to reach out further than just the regional area, and IMG fits the bill."
Gary Pluchino, senior vice president of IMG, will oversee the project from New York City. IMG also will manage a Kansas City-based sales and marketing team that will work full time with the Chiefs organization.
"We are delighted that a world-class organization like the Chiefs has decided to align itself with IMG and our local and national sales capabilities," said Pluchino. "With a renovated Arrowhead Stadium that will enhance the experience for fans and offer more brand interaction for marketers, we look forward to helping the Chiefs secure a naming-rights partner and maximize the commercial rights of this legendary stadium and franchise."
Arrowhead is in the midst of a $375 million renovation project, scheduled to be completed by 2010. With more than 77,000 seats, it is the third-largest stadium in the NFL. The Chiefs have ranked among the top three teams in attendance for nearly 20 years, which means more than 750,000 fans at the stadium and millions more on television will be exposed to the corporate sponsor's name each game.
"There are a lot of things that go with this," Newman said. "It's not just slapping a name on a building. It's a fully integrated marketing program."
And don't underestimate the value of the naming rights for the Chiefs' new practice facility, which is not typically open to the public.
"(The media) sees it," Newman said. "With the exception of game day, every sound bite that comes out of here is going to come out of that practice facility.
"When Terrell Owens was going crazy up in Philadelphia a few years ago, the Nova Care Center owned the market," Newman said of the health-care company that has the naming rights to the Eagles' practice facility. "That's a very attractive naming deal. It's probably more attractive on a regional basis than on a national basis, whereas the (Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field) has greater value on a national scale."
Asked when he'd like to see a naming-rights deal in place, Newman said: "Ideally, it would be great to have it today. But obviously we'd like to have something by 2010."
@ Go to Kansas City.com to post your choice for Arrowhead Stadium's new name.
To reach Randy Covitz, call 816-234-4796 or send e-mail to rcovitz@kcstar.com.
To see more of The Kansas City Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kansascity.com.
