How much does it cost to name a stadium in the United States?

For many years, one of the strongest bonds between fans and their favorite sports institution was the name of the stadium they called home. But times have changed. Today, more and more teams are striking high-value commercial deals to allow companies to ‘name’ their arenas – and the money involved is staggering.

The $884 million reason stadium names are changing

A new report from SportsBusiness, titled Stadium Naming Rights Report, breaks down just how lucrative these agreements are across major US sports leagues. In the five biggest competitions – the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS – naming rights deals generate a total of $884.7 million a year.

More than half of that figure (51%) comes from just 30 contracts. On average, a naming rights deal in the US is worth $7.4 million per year, far outpacing Europe’s top four football leagues, where the average comes in at $5.2 million (€4.6m).

Leading the way in the US is the NFL, which brings in $289.5 million annually, accounting for 32.7% of the total. Next is the NBA, generating $257.4 million a year (29%), followed by the NHL, which earns $236.2 million (26.7%). That leaves MLB and MLS to split the remaining share of the market.

In Europe, the Premier League leads the pack

Across Europe’s top three football leagues, the Premier League stands out with the most lucrative naming rights deals. The English top flight has six such agreements, bringing in $52.48 million ($8.7m average per deal).

Despite having more deals in place – ten in total – Germany’s Bundesliga brings in only slightly more, with $53.62 million annually. That works out to an average of $5.3 million per agreement. Serie A trails behind, with six deals worth a combined $20.4 million per year, or $3.4 million on average.

Spain’s LaLiga doesn’t even make the top three in Europe when it comes to stadium naming rights.

Having a stadium Allianz

One striking insight from the report is the strategic branding approach of Allianz. The German financial services giant has put its name on seven different stadiums worldwide: Allianz Arena (Bayern Munich), Allianz Stadium in Turin (Juventus), Allianz Stadion (Rapid Vienna), Allianz Riviera (OGC Nice), Allianz Parque (Palmeiras), Allianz Field (Minnesota United), and Allianz Stadium in Sydney (Sydney FC).

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