The New England
Patriots will rename their new $325 million football field
Gillette Stadium after the Boston-based razor maker bought rights
previously held by CMGI Inc.
The Patriots and Gillette Co. signed a 15-year agreement.
Neither the Patriots nor Gillette would disclose financial terms
of the contract.
Andover, Massachusetts-based CMGI Inc., which owns and
invests in Internet companies, agreed in August of 2000 to pay
$7.6 million annually for 15 years for naming rights. The company
had to pull out as its stock price fell to 40 cents a share, down
from about $44 at the time of the original agreement.
“CMGI’s business, and indeed the business climate for
technology companies overall, has seen drastic changes in the two
years since we announced our original agreement with the
Patriots,” CMGI President George McMillan said in a statement.
CMGI is keeping more limited marketing rights associated with
the stadium for $20.8 million, paying the Patriots $1.6 million a
year from 2003 through 2015.
The Super Bowl champion Patriots will open the 68,000-seat
stadium this National Football League season.
“Gillette is one of the most powerful brands in the world,”
Patriots Owner Robert Kraft said at a news conference. “We think
it is the perfect fit.”
Other Problems
Several other professional teams ran into problems with
naming rights agreements in the past year, among them baseball’s
Houston Astros and the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee
Titans.
In June, the Astros bought out the remaining 27 years of
Enron Corp.’s $100 million contract following the energy trader’s
bankruptcy. The Astros renamed their stadium Minute Maid Park
after Coca-Cola Co. agreed to spend more than $100 million over 28
years.
The Ravens removed the PSINet Inc. sign from their stadium
facade in February after the Internet services company filed for
bankruptcy, and a federal bankruptcy judge allowed the Titans to
replace Adelphia Business Solutions Inc. in June as their stadium
sponsor.
The NFL’s Miami Dolphins are also looking for a new naming
rights agreement for ProPlayer Stadium. ProPlayer Inc. is a
subsidiary of Fruit of the Loom Ltd., which filed for bankruptcy
in 1999.
Dean Bonham, a Denver-based consultant who analyzes naming
rights agreements, said the Patriots’ contract with Gillette
further illustrates the return to blue-chip companies with strong
balance sheets and staying power.
“It’s a real win for the Patriots,” Bonham said. “Gillette
may have the longest tenure of any company in the country as a
sports marketer. They’re clearly a blue-chip company and they’re
going to be here for decades to come.”
Gillette is a sponsor of Major League Baseball, World Cup
Soccer, college football and basketball, and PGA, Senior PGA and
LPGA golf.
Bloomberg News
