Recognition of corporate-named professional sports facilities and the implications for future sponsorship agreements

In the past 10 years the number of major professional sports teams playing in a corporate-named facility has increased from 6 to 52 (Brown & Morrison, 1998). Many companies have invested millions of dollars in naming-rights agreements in an effort to increase their name recognition (Greenberg & Gray, 1996). The purpose of this study was to investigate the recognition rates of corporate-named professional sports facilities. The survey instrument was developed by the researcher and distributed using mall intercept methodology. Sixty-five surveys were distributed in 10 metropolitan areas of the United States. Of the 650 returned questionnaires, 624 were usable for this study.;Part I of the survey asked subjects to identify the names of 10 selected Major League Baseball stadiums. Part II solicited information concerning subjects' age, gender, interest in Major League Baseball, consumption of professional sports through a variety of media sources, and reaction to corporate sponsors.;The results of this study revealed that the recognition rates of corporate-named professional sports facilities were higher for facilities that had retained their original name since opening. The selected stadiums were more likely to be recognized if they had retained their current names for longer periods of time. Subjects had a higher recognition rate for facilities in their local metropolitan area than for those in other areas of the country. In addition, subjects were more likely to correctly recognize facility names if they were interested in Major League Baseball.;The data indicates that corporations hoping to maximize their recognition by consumers should attempt to purchase the naming rights to facilities that have not been previously named. Since name recognition appears to increase over time, potential sponsors should also attempt to secure naming-rights agreements that will last at least 20 years. Since residents are likely to recognize professional sports facilities in their local area, potential sponsors should be willing to allocate greater resources to secure naming-rights agreements in larger metropolitan areas.