Sports Business Journal is reporting that the City of Memphis, which owns Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, has hired Spectra to secure a multiyear naming rights deal.
FROM SBJ FEB. 17-23, 2020 EDITION:
"Spectra has been hired to secure multiyear naming-rights deals for two such venues: the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis. The Cotton Bowl, built in 1930, is home to one of the most storied college football rivalries in the country — the annual Texas-Oklahoma game, held during the Texas State Fair. The Liberty Bowl, built in 1965, is home to University of Memphis football.
The venues are owned by their respective cities, which have hired Spectra.
“Both venues can expect to fetch a mid-to-high six-figure dollar range [per year], depending on what the final assets are, give or take,” said Liam Weseloh, Spectra’s vice president of partnerships. “The deals are a work in progress; there’s a lot of work that goes into pitching these behind the scenes, so we’re through a couple different layers that are critical to getting the deals closed, and at sort of the evaluation process.”
It continues (more from SBJ):
The Liberty Bowl, which also serves as a memorial to Memphis citizens who served in World War I, World War II and the Korean War, plans to continue honoring those veterans but will likely have a more traditional rename, Weseloh said.
“We want to make sure they are somehow recognized either in the name or in other areas, so there you would probably see a little more of a traditional rename of the facility, where it may be a brand stadium with other components going back to honor the fallen veterans,” Weseloh added.
AJ Maestas, founder and CEO of Navigate Research, which was commissioned by the city of Memphis to find how much corporate sponsors would be willing to invest in the Liberty Bowl, said backlash against iconic venues rebranding is generally short term.
“There is a negative impact, but people tend to get comfortable with a new name within two or three years,” Maestas added. “Generally speaking, on average, we think too much is made of the idea of a name changing, especially when you consider the revenue potential.”
Maestas said corporate naming rights, especially for iconic college venues, can also be an exceptional value, as opposed to getting a gift from a donor.
“We recommend our clients not take a one-time, in-perpetuity gift unless it is at least 20 times larger than the current annual value of a corporate name,” Maestas said. “The reason is that corporate names and the market for those grow at roughly 6% a year now. Over the last 25 to 30 years, it’s actually over 7% a year.”
The City of Memphis invested $2 million in video board upgrades for the Liberty Bowl in 2019, which followed a $3 million upgrade to the stadium’s locker room in 2018. It’s looking to put funds from a naming-rights deal into further improving the stadium.
92.9 FM ESPN is Memphis' Radio Home of the Annual AutoZone Liberty Bowl Football game hosted at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.