What Happened?
The city council of Baltimore, Maryland, is urging the administration to explore selling advertisements on fire trucks.
So What?
The move is one of many considered by cash-strapped cities and towns, which are seeking to maintain service levels in a cash-strapped era. Ohio, for example, recently announced that it would sell the naming rights on its bridges and roads in an effort to generate up to $25 million in revenue. Even rest areas would be monetized in Ohio.
Other Sponsorship Examples
As Gov1 has recently covered, myriad cities across the country are considering selling naming rights or sponsorships to generate much-needed cash. Among the examples around the country:
- Branded Manhole Covers: The city of Cleveland, Ohio, sold sponsored manhole covers branded “KFC” in return for the chain paying for street work.
- Ads on School Buses: The state of Utah passed a law in 2011 enabling school districts to sell advertising on school busses.
- Sponsored Police Cruisers: The town of Littleton, MA, started a program back in 2005 in which sponsors pay for leases on town police cruisers, in return for advertising space on the rear bumper of the car. Dunkin’ Donuts and others participated.
- Sponsored Helicopter: The sheriff of Onondaga County, which includes Syracuse, New York, tried selling the naming rights of his helicopter.
- Sponsored Town Parks: Onondaga Lake Park, the self-described “Central Park of Central New York,” has sold branding rights to Wegman’s in return for building and maintaining playgrounds, dog parks, and other components of the facility.
- Sponsored Subway Stops: The Chicago Transit Authority is selling the naming rights of 11 subway stations. So is the Boston’s transportation authoriry, which recently floated a plan to begin selling naming rights for 11 stations. Also, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority sold the naming rights of the Atlantic Avenue subway station to Barclays of London.
- Swimming Pools: The city council of San Angelo, Texas, agreed to sell the naming rights of the city’s municipal pool. The rights were sold to a local peanut farmer for $56,000 for an eight-year term.
- Arts Center: The city of Lewisville, Texas, sold the naming rights of its arts center to the Medical Center of Lewisville. The city had previously sold the naming rights of a railroad park in a 10-year agreement to Toyota.
Considerations; Pros and Cons
The “pros” are obvious: Money for cash-strapped cities and services. These programs are also growing in popularity with advertisers, as they demonstrate support of the communities they serve. The programs also provide a viable marketing option for advertisers; as digital consumers become more proficient at skipping or tuning out messages, companies are seeking to reach consumers everywhere.
The “cons” include both perception and conflict issues. Critics say that cities are “selling out,” and that services will decline as private sponsors become part of the municipal decision-making process. Others argue that sponsored school busses, for example, send the wrong message to kids, and that the financial benefits are only marginal—they won’t support the full cost of the programs. Some also see a conflict-of-interest. In a recent New York Times article, the police chief in a small Massachusetts town voiced concerns about neutrality. “Say there were two shopping plazas, and one advertised [on squad cars] and one didn’t,” he said. “Would that company feel like we weren’t treating them fairly?”
There are also legality considerations. For example, The Dallas Area Rapid Transit board began selling naming rights for stations in 2011, but later realized that policies prevented the use of businesses or products in station names.
RFPs
Gov1 was able to track down several RFPs related to naming rights and sponsorships of local city and town programs. Among the RFPs are:
- Convention Center naming rights in Greenville, North Carolina
- Parks and Recreation naming rights in Bakersfield, California
- Youth and Community Center sponsorship opportunities in Hyannis, Mass, from logos on the local Zamboni, to naming rights to entire buildings.
- Ice Center naming rights in Amherst, New York.
- Texas Municipal League sponsorship opportunities. The TML provides services to Texas cities.
Additional Reading
San Diego is considered one of the more aggressive marketing municipalities in the country, having sold naming rights and sponsorships for over a decade. This overview describes their opportunities, the process, existing sponsorships, and more.
Though over a decade old, this research report on valuing naming rights provides excellent detail, including opportunities, pitfalls, valuation models, and considerations.