PAWTUCKET – Rhode Island FC and the Tidewater Landing stadium’s management team are partnering with a Cleveland-based sponsorship valuation consulting firm to help find a company to have the soccer club’s soon-to-be-completed 10,500-seat waterfront stadium along the Seekonk River named after it for the foreseeable future.
But Rhode Island FC and stadium officials are looking for more than just the company’s name being on the building. They also hope the company with the naming rights can help be a community partner for the club in a way that the team’s home city becomes transformed moving forward.
The club announced this week that The Superlative Group will spearhead the naming rights search for the new stadium, which is set to open in the spring of 2025 in time for Rhode Island FC’s second United Soccer League Championship season. The club is currently playing at Beirne Stadium at Bryant University while the Tidewater Landing stadium remains under construction.
Per the partnership, Superlative, which has worked with close to 200 major brands over 30 years overseeing multiple partnerships for sports venues and other buildings at all levels – including helping with naming rights valuation – will start identifying companies to name Rhode Island FC’s new home pitch. Rhode Island FC President David Peart told Providence Business News that having an expert firm provide insight and perform analysis to justify the stadium’s valuation “is a critical part” of the naming rights process.
“They’ll do a full impressions analysis,” Peart said. “They’ll look at all of the assets, all the marketing, promotions and the prestige of this team and venue.”
Kyle Canter, Superlative’s chief operating officer, told PBN his firm is “aggressive” in seeking companies as potential naming rights partners for facilities. The firm, he says, sees “huge upside” in soccer, especially in USL Championship.
Canter says a new stadium coming online is a “blank slate,” providing opportunities for Superlative to bring in new partners to come up with “creative ideas” that accomplishes the potential partner’s objectives, as well enhance the fan experience.
Superlative, Canter says, will seek companies as possible naming rights partners that are either headquartered in Rhode Island or have a significant regional operation in the state. The firm has just started the vetting process, Canter says, and the goal to have the naming rights in place by is either at the end of 2024 or the very start of 2025.
Peart estimates naming rights value for venue such as Tidewater Landing could be “somewhere in the low seven-figure level” per year. Deals of this nature have a minimum 15-year term, Peart said. He did say Rhode Island FC and Tidewater Landing will not settle on a naming rights price and term length for the stadium until Superlative provides the valuation analysis.
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RHODE ISLAND FC and Tidewater Landing Stadium officials hope the company that receives the naming rights to the stadium can help be a community partner for the club in a way that the team’s home city of Pawtucket becomes transformed moving forward. / COURTESY FORTUITOUS PARTNERS[/caption]
By comparison, the R.I. Convention Center Authority currently has a 10-year agreement, signed in 2022, with Lincoln-based Amica Mutual Insurance Co. at $900,000 per year to have the former Providence Civic Center be named Amica Mutual Pavilion and other branding across the convention center building. Canter says it’s hard to compare naming rights of other venues to what Superlative may find for Tidewater Landing because “no two stadiums are alike.”
“What we look at here in this region is there’s not another naming rights opportunity that is close to, or as high profile, as this [Tidewater Landing] stadium for the region,” Canter said. “If you’re a brand and you want to step out and blanket the market, this [naming rights] opportunity is for you. This is the sexiest one in town.”
Peart declined to comment on how much Rhode Island FC is paying Superlative for searching for possible naming rights candidates, citing confidentiality. Peart and Tidewater Stadium General Manager Paul Byrne did say the uniqueness of Tidewater Landing and the increasing support for soccer in the region will make the naming rights agreement a “special opportunity” for a potential business partnership.
“Any company that puts their name on the building, we will also be representing them in addition to the team,” Byrne said. “It’s important to us when fans walk in through those doors that they feel a sense … when it comes to interacting with people where you feel welcomed for other events outside of Rhode Island FC.”
Tidewater Landing plans to host additional events, including concerts, festivals and other possible athletic events through its new long-term partnership with event manager Grand Rising Curations, along with being Rhode Island FC’s home stadium. The revenue generated from the naming rights is a “key component” and part of the ongoing operations for both the stadium and Rhode Island FC, Peart said.
Canter said Superlative will also determine the naming rights value based on the “impressions,” such as social media engagement, fan engagements, game broadcasts and physical signage, that a brand would get through this stadium naming opportunity.
Peart and Byrne also said they hope the to-be-determined company’s naming rights can be an opportunity for said company to help revitalize Pawtucket “in a really meaningful way,” both from an economic and quality of life standpoint. Byrne reiterated that the stadium is being built on a remediated brown site.
Along with the stadium, mixed-use properties housing both residential and retail businesses are also part of the site’s future plans. The city
recently awarded Lincoln-based engineering firm BETA Group Inc. a $1.4 million design contract to help design the riverwalk and pedestrian bridge adjacent to the new stadium along the river.
The stadium and subsequent naming rights agreement with a company will be “a central part” of that transformation, Peart said, including the company he a true team partner to promote Rhode Island FC to the local community.
“[The company] will host events incremental from what Paul [Byrne] will do from a booking perspective at the venue,” Peart said. “The company will utilize their promotion and marketing to put a spotlight on this venue and the transformation taking place in Pawtucket. It’s that corporate seal of approval that we’re a part of this community and committed to quality-of-life improvement.”
Peart in past experiences doing naming-rights deals has had business partners volunteer at team-oriented events within communities, and vice versa. He hopes that can be established with the new naming agreement for Tidewater.
“It’s more than just putting your name on the building,” Peart said. “How do you bring that partnership and that involvement to life beyond just the four walls of the building.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.