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Naming rights are a financial transaction and form ofadvertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most oftensports venues), typically for an agreed time. The term typically ranges from three to 20 years for properties such as multi-purpose arenas, performing arts venues, or sports fields. Longer terms are more common for higher profile venues such as professional sports facilities.[1]
This arrangement gives buyers a marketing property to promote products and services, enhancecustomer retention, or increasemarket share.
There are several forms of corporate sponsored names. For example, apresenting sponsor attaches the name of the corporation or brand into a traditional name (e.g.Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome andSmart Araneta Coliseum), whereas atitle sponsor replaces the property's original name with a corporate-sponsored name (as with most sponsored sports venues), without referencing the previous name.
The record for the largest naming rights payment belongs to theCrypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. On 17 November 2021, a 20-year, US$700 million sponsorship deal was reached betweenAnschutz Entertainment Group and Singapore-basedCrypto.com to rename the Staples Center.[2] TheStaples office supply store chain had held the arena's naming rights since the venue's opening in 1999. The center is home toNHL'sLos Angeles Kings and theNBA'sLos Angeles Lakers. The venue became known as Crypto.com Arena on December 25, 2021.
The record had previously belonged to Toronto'sScotiabank Arena (formerly the Air Canada Centre), which garneredCA$ 800 million (US$517 million) over 20 years starting in 2018.[3][4]
The former New Meadowlands Stadium, home of theNew York Giants andNew York Jets inEast Rutherford, New Jersey, was expected to eclipse both deals with an estimated value of US$25–30 million annually.[5] It fell short of that benchmark, withMetLife Stadium earning $17 million annually from its deal with insurance companyMetLife.[6]
Occasionally, the purchaser of naming rights may choose to donate the rights to an outside organization, typically one to which it is closely related. A notable example isFriends Arena, a major stadium inStockholm. The facility was previouslySwedbank Arena, but in 2012 the company donated the naming rights to the Friends Foundation, an organization sponsored by Swedbank combattingschool bullying.[7] Similarly, in 2018, theKentucky Farm Bureau, a farmer lobbying and insurance organization, acquired naming rights to theUniversity of Kentucky's new baseball park. The Farm Bureau donated those naming rights to theKentucky Department of Agriculture which named the venue Kentucky Proud Park. The sponsored name is the state agency's brand for agricultural products produced in that state.[8]
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Until the 1990s, most sports stadiums in the United States were given generic or descriptive names, often after the team that played there or a person associated with the team. The history of naming rights in the United States may date as far back as 1912, with the opening ofFenway Park inBoston. The stadium's owner owned a realty company called "Fenway Realty" (named for anearby parkland), so the promotional value of the naming was likely considered.[9] However, it is more widely believed to begin in 1926 whenWilliam Wrigley, thechewing gum magnate and owner of theChicago Cubs, named his team's stadium "Wrigley Field".
In 1953,Anheuser-Busch head andSt. Louis Cardinals ownerAugust Busch Jr. proposed renamingSportsman's Park, occupied by the Cardinals, "Budweiser Stadium".[10] When this idea was rejected byFord Frick, theCommissioner of Baseball at that time, Anheuser-Busch proposed the title "Busch Stadium" after a company founder. The name was approved, and Anheuser-Busch subsequently released "Busch Bavarian Beer" (now known asBusch Beer). The venue was later replaced byBusch Memorial Stadium in1966, and shortened to Busch Stadium in the 1970s. By the stadium's closure in 2005,Major League Baseball's policy for selling naming rights to non-owner corporations had changed—evidenced byCoors Field inDenver andMiller Park inMilwaukee (now known as American Family Field). Anheuser-Busch retained naming rights after selling the Cardinals and used the Busch name for a new Cardinal stadium opening in 2006.
Foxboro Stadium, former home of theNew England Patriots, was an early example of a team selling naming rights to a company that did not own it. The stadium bore the nameSchaefer Stadium (after thebeer company) from opening in 1971 until 1983.
The first prominent example of a business purchasing the naming rights to a professional sporting venue as a form of advertising, rather than because the business was directly involved in the team's ownership or the venue's construction, was the opening ofARCO Arena, the home of theSacramento Kings, in 1985.[11] This was described as a "unique arrangement" at the time, but Kings co-owner Gregg Lukenbill suggested that it could set a precedent for other sports franchises.[12] In college sports,Syracuse University'sCarrier Dome opened with that name in 1980, after theCarrier Corporation donated $2.75 million toward the dome's construction.
The practice of selling naming rights was popularized in the late 1990s. In 1994, only 7 percent of major professional sports venues in the United States were named after a corporate sponsor. By 2004, this figure had grown to 61 percent.[13] As of 2025,22 of 30 MLB stadiums,27 of 30 NFL stadiums, and29 of 30 NBA arenas have sold or are in the process of selling their naming rights to corporate sponsors.
Public reaction to this practice is mixed. Naming rights sold to new venues is largely accepted, especially for well-established or locally connected buyers.[citation needed] Examples include Rich Stadium (nowHighmark Stadium) inOrchard Park,Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) inPittsburgh, andCoors Field inDenver. Selling naming rights to existing venues has been less successful, as in the attempt to renameCandlestick Park inSan Francisco to3Com Park. The public (and some media outlets) continued to call it Candlestick Park, as it was known for over three decades. After 3Com's agreement expired, rights were sold toMonster Cable, and the stadium was renamedMonster Park. San Francisco voters responded by passing an initiative (Proposition H)[14] in the November 2004 elections, requiring name reversion to Candlestick Park once the contract with Monster expired in 2008. The initiative proved largely ceremonial, and was overturned by Proposition C in 2009 in response to difficult economic times.[15] The naming rights to the park were never resold and the stadium was closed and demolished in 2014.
Sports stadiums with naming rights deals can be found in Australia, Japan, China, Finland, Canada, Israel and Germany, where eight of the 10 largest football stadiums sold their naming rights to corporate sponsors. The practice is widening in the United Kingdom as well. The current stadium ofBolton Wanderers is theToughsheet Community Stadium (after 17 years as Reebok Stadium, four as Macron Stadium and five as the University of Bolton stadium) andArsenal Football Club's stadium (opened for the 2006/2007 season) is theEmirates Stadium, their previous ground beingArsenal Stadium. In cricket, the most famous example isThe Oval, home ofSurrey County Cricket Club. It has had several sponsors over the years, and is currently known as "TheKia Oval", having originally been known as the "Kennington Oval", after the Londondistrict it is located within.
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While the highest prices have traditionally been paid for stadium naming rights, many companies and individuals have found that selling their naming rights can be an important consideration in funding their business. Since the early 2000s, many new categories have opened, including the sale of rights to name aspecies of monkey for $650,000.[16]
Naming rights to public transit stations have been sold in Las Vegas and Philadelphia (NRG station,Jefferson Station, andPenn Medicine Station).[17] Similar sales were contemplated in New York[18] andBoston, but ruled out in San Francisco.[19] A sponsorship for theMBTA'sState Street station byCitizens Bank lasted from 1997 to 2000. InTampa, naming rights forstreetcar stations and rolling stock are available.[20]
In December 2016, theLos Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a naming rights policy for its facilities and routes, but rescinded the policy two months later over potential lawsuits for skipping sponsors.[21][22]
Examples outside of the United States includeMadrid Metro, whereLine 2 and the stationSol were renamed from 2013 to 2016 after mobile phone operatorVodafone,[23] many stations on theDubai Metro,[24] andMonumento Station in theManila Light Rail Transit System in thePhilippines, which was renamed Yamaha Monumento Station in 2018, after renovations.[25]
Naming rights in sports are common for competitions and series as well as stadiums. Some sports teams adopt a name of the sponsor as their team or club name.
Inassociation football, leagues and cup competitions sometimes adopt the name of their sponsors. For example,England'sPremier League was known as the Barclays Premier League until 2016, and itsFA Cup is officially theEmirates FA Cup.[26] As part of a rebranding, the Premier League announced in 2015 that it would not accept a title sponsorship beginning in the 2016–17 season, citing a desire to have a cleaner branding more in line with U.S. professional leagues.[27] Since 2020, the French Professional Football Ligue has adopted the name ofLigue 1 McDonald's.
Incollege football, mostbowl games modify their traditional names for title sponsors, and some abandon their traditional names. Most include their traditional name (e.g. the "Rose Bowl Game presented byPrudential", "AllstateSugar Bowl"), but have moved to sponsor-only names (e.g. theGator Bowl was known for four playings as theTaxSlayer Bowl), a move typically unpopular with fans.[28]
Some newer games have only had sponsored names; theSunshine Football Classic in Miami was first played in 1990 as theBlockbuster Bowl, and has gone through multiple sponsorships since, includingCarquest,MicronPC,Mazda,Champs Sports,Russell Athletic,Camping World,Cheez-It, andPop-Tarts. The game briefly included "Tangerine Bowl" in its name following its re-location to Orlando (in an homage to the original branding of theCitrus Bowl), but has since had only sponsor names.[29][30][31]
Team names and even whole leagues have occasionally been sold to corporate sponsors as well (examples include theNew York Red Bulls in the former case, theNET10 WirelessArena Football League for the latter), but this is generally rare in the United States and more common in other parts of the world.
During the 1980s, sanctioned auto races inNASCAR andIndyCar began to abandon their traditional names for exclusive sponsor names. The trend expanded rapidly in NASCAR until races in the 2019Winston Cup Series featured sponsor names (including theDaytona 500, which was given a presenting sponsor as theDaytona 500 by STP), with little or no reference to original names. In the 2010s, very few exceptions remained in NASCAR (such as the Daytona 500, which no longer uses the presenting sponsor), and races without sponsor names are typically due to difficulty securing a suitable sponsor. IndyCar follows suit, with most races embracing title sponsorship; theIndianapolis 500 was an exception until2016, when it added a presenting sponsor for the first time.[32][33] Sports media coverage (such asESPN news reports) typically refer to races by the location of the track, avoiding the use of sponsored names in news coverage.[34]
Television and radio series, especially in the early days of each medium, frequently sold naming rights of their programs to sponsors, most of whombankrolled the program. Examples includeThe Fleischmann's Yeast Hour,[35]Texaco Star Theatre andThe Philco Television Playhouse. This form of sponsorship fell out of favor in the late 1950s, although later examples includeMutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, which originally aired from 1963 to 1988. One of the last surviving examples is the now irregularly-airingHallmark Hall of Fame, on the air since 1951.
TheInternational Star Registry is a commercial company that since 1979 has sold unofficial naming rights to stars (i.e., theastronomical objects). The naming services are limited to an entry in a book, and carry no scientific or official authenticity according to professional astronomers.[36][37][38][39]
Naming or renaming of arenas, buildings, or events is often met with public disapproval, especially in the UK and the United States. Some people consider itselling out,[40][41][42][43] especially when they see no benefit to themselves. They may refuse to use a new name, preferring to use a non-branded name, especially in colloquial situations.Rebranding can also lead to confusion.[44] In such cases, there may be a lengthy period during which the property is known by both names. A common example isWillis Tower inChicago, often referred to as the "Sears Tower", even though the building was sold in 1994 (but retained its former name until 2003).[45]
Some major events—particularly theOlympic andParalympic Games, as well asFIFA tournaments—prohibit the use of corporate sponsored names on venues, construing the practice asambush marketing. Affected venues are given a generic name for the duration of the event (e.g.,General Motors Place was referred to as "Canada Hockey Place" during the2010 Winter Olympics), and sponsored signage is obscured or removed.[46][47] The Olympics also enforce a "clean venue" rule prohibiting most corporate logos—even for official sponsors—from venues, although the Paralympics allow the logos of official sponsors to be displayed in-venue.[48][49] However, this policy was loosened beginning with the2028 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles, with theInternational Olympic Committee allowing sponsored names to appear on the exteriors of venues (but not on the field of play itself). The LA28 organizing committee will charge sponsors for the opportunity to have their names uncovered during the Games.[50]
Regina, Saskatchewan's "Evraz Place" was renamedRegina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) District indoor event complex. Discussing its rebranding, the owner recalled the complex had sometimes received shipments and communications meant for the Evraz steel company due to the mistaken belief that the steel company's North American division was based there.
Naming rights on buildings or structures which is protected bycultural heritage laws and regulations were also criticized. InSemarang,Central Java, Indonesia, a railway station namedSemarang Tawang, which is protected by 2010 Cultural Heritage Act No. 11, has Bank Jateng naming rights since 11 April 2023. Therefore, it is now called "Semarang Tawang Bank Jateng station", in any media, including signages, mobile ticketing applications,train and station announcement, and other public information. Its naming rights itself, is gained from an agreement betweenKAI andYogyakarta-based advertising company Berlian Promosindo (Tegsa Advertising). Its new name was criticized by historian Johanes Christiono, due to lack of national or local laws or regulations regarding renaming of cultural heritage objects.[51][52]
Nonprofit organizations have the option to recognize major gifts by bestowing naming rights to a property to recognize the donor's financial support. This practice is not considered a private sector financial transaction. For example, in honor of more than $60 million cumulatively donated by one sponsor to theNational Air and Space Museum properties, the directors of theSmithsonian Institution named its satellite facility inLoudoun County, Virginia, after the donor, calling it theSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.[53]
Walgreen Coast, a portion of the coast ofAntarctica, was named because theWalgreens pharmacy chain sponsored theByrd Antarctic Expedition.[54]
