Guaranteed Rate will pay the Chicago White Sox $20.4 million over the next 10 years for naming right to the team’s ballpark, according to a new report from Crain’s citing Illinois Sports Facilities Authority records.
Coming out to just over $2 million a year, that is less than the $3.4 million that U.S. Cellular paid for its naming rights, and is also lower than the $3.6 million average among the 19 other MLB parks with naming rights partners (not counting the Citi Field outlier, which is for a whopping $20 million a year).
More than mere naming rights
Crain’s noted, though, that Guaranteed Rate’s deal with the Sox encompasses more than just naming rights. In addition, the lender signed a sponsorship agreement that covers “various branding, promotional and hospitality benefits, along with joint marketing opportunities,” according to a statement Crain’s cited; one such sponsorship the team has already promoted is the SoxFest convention in January.
No financial details are public on the sponsorship agreement, but Crain’s speculates that it could bring Guaranteed Rate’s overall financial commitment in line (if not above) with U.S. Cellular’s.
Photo Credit: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Cellular_Field.jpg
Comisky Park sponsored by Guaranteed Rate would be a much better play
Guess how G-rate they paid for that? Just another reason why the big-box bank / superbowl-ad lender is worst option for a consumer. The consumer pays for it in the end.