Sports and Economics: Booming Naming Rights Market

In my American Sport in the 21st Century Class we talked about how sports and economics work together for a respective product. We talked about how money has become the foundation for sports

Dallas Cowboys Stadium was built in 2009. AT&T bought
the naming rights for the stadium in 2013.

at all levels, but why is it back in 2010 when new stadiums were built like AT&T stadium and MetLife Stadium they had no corporate sponsors to fund them what so ever. These stadiums cost $1.3billion to build and they were the most advanced stadiums at the time, but instead of being called "AT&T Stadium" or "MetLife Stadium" they were called "Dallas Cowboys Stadium" and "New Meadowlands Stadium". In an article wrote by Terry Lefton on February 22nd, 2016 for the Sports Business Journal he discusses how the market for corporate names is booming more now than ever and how the market wasn't as big in 2010. In the article Lefton quotes Van Wagner, a Sports and Entertainment president, who says that essentially naming rights have been reborn in the sports world. CEO's and Presidents of many companies around the world say that naming rights back in 2010 were non-existent due to the recession that happened in 2008. No company wanted to spend too much money on an arena or stadium because it was too risky at the time. Now we are seeing stadiums obtain corporate sponsors before they are even built. The Minnesota Vikings new stadium already has U.S. Bank as they're corporate sponsor and Mercedes-Benz is sponsoring the Atlanta Braves new stadium that will be built by 2017. These sponsors help the sports world tremendously because as we discussed in class profit motive shapes owners and athletes. The sports world is growing faster than we know it and that is great for many future sports managers. You can read Lefton's full article here:
 http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2016/02/22/In-Depth/Naming-Rights.aspx

Do sports need money in order to survive? Yes
Would the economy be impacted if sports were not around? Yes
Does the economy impact sport? Yes

How do sports and the economy relate to each other? Look Below.

Sport obtains a lot of money. Sport needs money to survive.

-          Money has become the foundation of sport at all levels

-          Profit motive shapes owners and athletes

-          Fans are left with the feeling that they are the victims of greed