(03-06-2013 01:14 PM)3601 Wrote:  Some may scoff, but the biggest soccer teams in the world have already sold their jerseys to corporations and the names to most American sports venues have been sold to corporations. I'd rather have a corporate name than a dumb name.

FedEx Conference
Nationwide Insurance Conference
Delta Airlines Conference
Disney Conference
American Express Conference
Coca-Cola Conference

That would work but that would not jive with the NCAA being for "amateur" athletics.

I think at some point this will be the next domino that falls as other revenue streams get maxed out.

It would be something more like the FedEx Metro12 Conference (FEM12C)

(03-06-2013 01:24 PM)Mtyler Wrote:  "Why not sell the conference name to a corporation?"

HMM? Maybe because this is the most shlt idea ever...Thats why. Nothing says awesome like selling your identity to the highest bidder. It would just be one more negative story that the media could use to poke fun at the big east for a couple of weeks.

The wealthiest sports league in the world, the Barclays Premier League has sold its naming rights. I dont get why its an issue.

We need money, i really hope this idea is on the table.

If we get a good sponsor that doesnt sound cheesey, lets say:

Bank of America Conference
Citi Conference (though we'd get called "****** conference")
Verizon Conference

Like the suggestions, Amex, Coca Cola, Delta etc. All good options

Id avoid Disney, would be too much of a joke.

etc
Wouldnt want one that sounds cheesey like Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, KFC etc. Needs to be professional or we'll be even more of a joke than we already are.

(03-06-2013 04:28 PM)3601 Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 04:15 PM)OUGwave Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 04:12 PM)Tampa Bearcat Wrote:  This has been discussed in detail over the previous few days. Sure it sounds dumb but the money might be too good to pass up.

Fed Ex (or whoever) logo on every field and every court.
Fed Ex name in every newspaper, sports website and televised sporting event with scores crawling across the bottom.
Fed Ex name and logo on every highlight show.

No other conference can do this even if they wanted. "Big Ten Presented by Fed Ex" doesn't work. It would still be Big Ten in every media display and mention. The logo would get a bit of airplay but the complete name wouldn't fly.

I believe this exposure would be worth more than our tv contract. This isn't something we can easily dismiss just because it sounds dumb. Besides, negative attention is still attention. In our case, it's better than being anonymous.

It's just really hard for me to believe the NCAA would admit/allow a conference with a corporate name (unless they were getting a cut).

I hope you are being sarcastic.

The NCAA could see it as a slippery slope to sponsored uniforms, which would not be good for pending legal challenges regarding the amateur status of NCAA athletes.

(03-06-2013 04:35 PM)adcorbett Wrote:  Common Sense? The Citrus Bowl, now known as the Capitol One Bowl, has had three corporate sponsors since 1999. It is also very hard to trace it's history for the average fan (Same with the Peach bowl AKA the Chick-Fil-A Bowl). That means using that model, between now and 2025, you could be looking at a fourth name for the conference, the current name, and three new sponsor names. That is why you don't want to do that.

Hell, this will be Memphis' fifth confernce in less than 20 years anyway.

Metro
Great Midwest
C-USA
Big East
TBD

(03-06-2013 05:03 PM)OUGwave Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 04:28 PM)3601 Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 04:15 PM)OUGwave Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 04:12 PM)Tampa Bearcat Wrote:  This has been discussed in detail over the previous few days. Sure it sounds dumb but the money might be too good to pass up.

Fed Ex (or whoever) logo on every field and every court.
Fed Ex name in every newspaper, sports website and televised sporting event with scores crawling across the bottom.
Fed Ex name and logo on every highlight show.

No other conference can do this even if they wanted. "Big Ten Presented by Fed Ex" doesn't work. It would still be Big Ten in every media display and mention. The logo would get a bit of airplay but the complete name wouldn't fly.

I believe this exposure would be worth more than our tv contract. This isn't something we can easily dismiss just because it sounds dumb. Besides, negative attention is still attention. In our case, it's better than being anonymous.

It's just really hard for me to believe the NCAA would admit/allow a conference with a corporate name (unless they were getting a cut).

I hope you are being sarcastic.

The NCAA could see it as a slippery slope to sponsored uniforms, which would not be good for pending legal challenges regarding the amateur status of NCAA athletes.

That horse has left the barn, amigo. There are already corporate sponsorships of:

Bowl games
On campus football stadiums and basketball arenas
Conference FB championship games
Conference BB tournaments

(03-06-2013 04:33 PM)nickp Wrote:  naming rights to highest bidder? Like Capital One or Discover League?

Yep.

This will happen with every conference in the not so distant future.

EA sports presents the Eastern Athletic Conference.

Plus the new EA teams would be the best on the new NCAA games every year. No more starting rb's with an overall rating of 62.

(03-06-2013 01:14 PM)3601 Wrote:  Some may scoff, but the biggest soccer teams in the world have already sold their jerseys to corporations and the names to most American sports venues have been sold to corporations. I'd rather have a corporate name than a dumb name.

FedEx Conference
Nationwide Insurance Conference
Delta Airlines Conference
Disney Conference
American Express Conference
Coca-Cola Conference

You need as conference name with the sponsor's name in front. Such as Capital One's Atlantic East Conference

(03-06-2013 07:56 PM)whitey Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 01:14 PM)3601 Wrote:  Some may scoff, but the biggest soccer teams in the world have already sold their jerseys to corporations and the names to most American sports venues have been sold to corporations. I'd rather have a corporate name than a dumb name.

FedEx Conference
Nationwide Insurance Conference
Delta Airlines Conference
Disney Conference
American Express Conference
Coca-Cola Conference

You need as conference name with the sponsor's name in front. Such as Capital One's Atlantic East Conference

Nope.

(03-06-2013 01:25 PM)Lord2FLI Wrote:  Because then we'd up with something stupid like the KFC Yum! Center (no offense intended at Louisville fans, it's not a knock on anyone but KFC themselves).

None taken. It is a horrible and completely stupid name for an arena.

(03-06-2013 10:28 PM)UofLgrad07 Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 01:25 PM)Lord2FLI Wrote:  Because then we'd up with something stupid like the KFC Yum! Center (no offense intended at Louisville fans, it's not a knock on anyone but KFC themselves).

None taken. It is a horrible and completely stupid name for an arena.

Well it's better than it being referred to as the Bucket in reference to KFC, but honestly I don't really hear it that much being mentioned as the KFC Yum Center just The Yum Center when the game is on or reading up on a event.

(03-06-2013 08:38 PM)3601 Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 07:56 PM)whitey Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 01:14 PM)3601 Wrote:  Some may scoff, but the biggest soccer teams in the world have already sold their jerseys to corporations and the names to most American sports venues have been sold to corporations. I'd rather have a corporate name than a dumb name.

FedEx Conference
Nationwide Insurance Conference
Delta Airlines Conference
Disney Conference
American Express Conference
Coca-Cola Conference

You need as conference name with the sponsor's name in front. Such as Capital One's Atlantic East Conference

Nope.

So you are going to change the name every time we lose our sponsor

A real name with a sponsor makes a lot more sense, as you mentioend Whitey. A true coproate name though, yeah that is the big problem. The other issue is, the realmoney in a corporate name is the true sposnroship title. The Fed Ex American 12 conference woudl still be abbreviated as the A-10 on sports center, news papers, etc. The Fed Ex 12 cannot be, and thus it is always called that, and that is where the value is. That is why many bowls went from the names like the Capitol One Citrus Bowl, which was still often referred to as the Cistrus Bowl, to simply called the Capitol One Bowl, where there was little choice in what to refer to it as, getting Capitol One the name dropping they wanted.

The money should be worth the risk of changing the name every few years. Whether it starts as Fed Ex Conference now and changes to the Coca Cola Conference in 6 years, we'll always be known as the corporate shills. Nobody else can do it, which, in addition to the money, is precisely why we should.

If that type of visibility is worth $20+ mil/yr to the conference, isn't it worth pursuing?

No. There are no guarantees and you are left with a mess.

Place I worked for went through three name changes in five years. An dyes we were getting $20 million a year for the naming rights. However it was just a stadium, and while changing the branding and such sucked, it was not a big deal because everyone knew where to find the stadium.

Have you ever heard of the Camping World Truck Series?

Naming rights that may bring in more cash than the television contract is worth it even if you're changing the name every year (which obviously wouldn't be the case.)

Tell it to the schools who initially thought we'd be in the $15 million ballpark. Tell it to those who then thought $8-10 million. Tell it all of us who are now looking at $2 million. You absolutely have to account for that.

It's not like there is an existing brand to change. For all intents and purposes, this is a start-up. We don't have an identity. Some would argue that's reason enough not to sell the naming rights. I would argue the opposite. That would be part of our identity.

Now, think about the future. If this conference enjoys any success whatsoever, the value of those naming rights will go through the roof. Based on the dollars that corporations are already paying for single event, stadium, and league naming rights, it is more than realistic to believe these dollars could put a respectable dent into the gap between the haves and have nots. I'm not talking about now. I'm talking about 6-10-15-20+ years from now. If Bank of America is paying the Carolina Panthers $7 million/yr now, how much would it be worth to have that name plastered on every field, court, newspaper, website, SportsCenter, score scroll, etc? That value of that mythical figure could approach 9 figures in the not so distant future.

edit: The Bank of America reference isn't even the best one to use. Reliant Energy pays $10 mil/yr for Reliant Stadium in Houston. Royal Phillips Electronics pays $9.3 mil/yr for Phillips Arena in Atlanta.

(03-07-2013 12:21 AM)whitey Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 08:38 PM)3601 Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 07:56 PM)whitey Wrote:  

(03-06-2013 01:14 PM)3601 Wrote:  Some may scoff, but the biggest soccer teams in the world have already sold their jerseys to corporations and the names to most American sports venues have been sold to corporations. I'd rather have a corporate name than a dumb name.

FedEx Conference
Nationwide Insurance Conference
Delta Airlines Conference
Disney Conference
American Express Conference
Coca-Cola Conference

You need as conference name with the sponsor's name in front. Such as Capital One's Atlantic East Conference

Nope.

So you are going to change the name every time we lose our sponsor

Yep. Sign a 30 deal if you are worried about it.