Professor's research shows stadium naming rights have little risk for sponsors
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A new study has found that there is little downside for large organizations to enter into long-term naming rights agreements with sports arenas and stadiums. Why? Customers’ abilities to differentiate between teams and the sponsors, says Brian L. Bourdeau, Associate Professor in Marketing at the Harbert College of Business.
Bourdeau’s co-authored paper, “Measuring the Effectiveness of Facility Naming Rights Sponsorship,” published in the Journal of Business Research, polled hundreds of baseball fans at two major league stadiums in 2016 and found that an organization’s sponsorship/affiliation with a sports franchise will not overshadow the experience that the firm delivers to its customers. The sponsorship/venue naming rights is simply added exposure for the organization and much-needed revenue for the team and/or stadium ownership.
