Although expensive, why is it efficient for a corporation to purchase the naming rights to a sports venue? What are the potential risks to teams and corporations of purchasing these naming rights? Provide specific examples to illustrate your response.

What will be an ideal response?

On-site your name and logo is on everything from the front door and the roof to the ticket stubs and the concession cups. Off-site your name gets repeated mentions every time a story about the team refers to the stadium. Such exposure is costly, but it is an efficient way of putting your company’s name into the consumer’s mind. However, there are risks involved for teams and for corporations in the naming rights game such as a company or team facing a scandal. The Houston Astros played in Enron Stadium, named for a corporation that collapsed in scandal. In 2013 Florida Atlantic University was set to earn $6 million for renaming its football stadium after the GEO Group, a prison corporation notorious for sexual abuse and mistreatment of prisoners. After university protests and online petitions, the decision was reversed. Sponsors also occasionally change, and with that switch can come some fan adjustments, as when the Chicago White Sox renamed their stadium.