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On 3/17/2003 11:27:54 PM DFWCC wrote:
Is there still a "United Center"?
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Yep. And there probably will be if they emerge from Bankruptcy.
And, for the record:
Delta Center in SLC, $1.3M per year thru 2011
Continental Airline Arena near EWR, $1.4M per year thru 2011
FedEx Field, DC, $7.6M per year thru 2025
FedEx Forum, MEM, $4.5M per year thru 2023
United Center, ORD, $1.8M per year thru 2014
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Why did AA pay $200mil for an arena name... H**L the arena cost $425mil.
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Because if had become the Southwest Arena back then, people would have said management f***ed up by not getting there first...
Also, don't overlook that in 1998 when the deal was struck, [a target=_espn href=http://espn.go.com/sportsbusiness/s/stadiumnames.html]naming rights[/a] were the latest craze for companies. That doesn't make it right or wrong, but it was not something just airlines were doing.
Why would Fedex, clearly the most recognized name for express shipping, pay roughly $200M to get the naming rights to RFK's replacement in DC, or $100M to name the arena in their hometown of Memphis? Does it make more people send things via FedEx?
Why would Minute Maid (again, a leading brand name) fork out close to $200M to assume the naming rights from Enron Field in Houston? Will it make people buy more orange juice?.
Yep. It will. That's how advertising works, and it proves itself over and over again. You get the brand name in front of as many people so that it is the first thing they think of when you say juice or overnight shipping.
Ever wonder why Quaker sells more oatmeal than anyone else? Because for some reason, people believe that Quaker invented oatmeal. Dried oat flakes are dried oat flakes, regardless whose name is on the package. But, but continuing to advertise, they remain the leading seller of dried oat flakes....