The stadium formerly known as FedEx Field is hopeful to have a new sponsor before the 2024 Commanders season opens, but it’s not just as easy as ‘find a partner and sign a deal’ even if the team knew FedEx’s departure was coming.
”They're in an interesting situation, having however many years left at the old stadium in Landover and then moving to a new stadium, wherever it may be,” Nicki Jhabvala told BMitch & Finlay. “This was going to come up either way when the FedEx deal ended, so there was always going to be sort of that gap, and their options are basically threefold: sign a short-term deal with a new naming rights, go without a partner and just try to get one for the new stadium, or find one similar to what the Tennessee Titans did, who will be the naming rights partner for the remainder of their time in Landover and then carry over with them to the new stadium.”
It seemed from Jason Wright’s appearance with Grant and Danny last week that Door No. 3 was their ideal one, like Nissan’s deal to stay on the Titans’ new venue in Nashville, and it could be structured so the partner pays less now. But…
“The only drawback is if you're trying to get top dollar for a new stadium, which you would think the new one wherever it may be should, you might lose some value there,” Jhabvala said. “The trouble is finding one for a short-term span, because then you run into the issue of changing the name multiple times and finding a brand or a company that wants to do it for only a few years, because it's still a large investment even for that amount of time.
And going without a partner just seems unfeasible, even if it may come to that, because this is a significant revenue generator for teams that helps them keep up with capital repairs and maintenance.”
Jhabvala has reported that once a partner agrees, the team would move quickly, within 30-60 days, to hash out the details, which is an aggressive timeline – but perhaps the prospect of a new stadium will actually help?
“If they want to find the right partner for the long-term versus the short-term, that could take some time, because these are significant deals that include much more than just the name on the stadium,” Nicki said. “These usually, if it’s fairly smooth, take four to six months, and the Broncos, Sports Authority went out of business in I think it was 2016 and it took them three years to find a new partner…but they didn't have a new stadium in the pipeline, so that’s the biggest thing going for the Commanders is that prospect of a new stadium.”
And in an odd to conflicting crossover, 49ers President Al Guido’s consulting company, Elevate, is leading the search, which seems like a strange bedfellow, but maybe not?
“This is sort of the side business and the 49ers are also invested in Elevate, but they do a ton of these deals related to the stadium naming rights or research studies, which they also did for the Commanders’ stadium improvements,” Jhabvala said. “They've worked with a number of leagues and teams, similar to Legends, which is a part-owned by Jerry Jones and the Yankees; a lot of these owners make so much money as they find these side businesses, and it's similar to what Jason Wright said he was hoping to do initially with the Commanders, is find these extra businesses to put under the umbrella of the Commanders. This is one of them that the 49ers have.”