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Naming Rights & Sponsorships

ArentFox Schiff’s nationally recognized sports practice has decades of experience advising clients in connection with high-profile naming rights and sponsorship transactions. Our attorneys advise clients on both sides of naming rights and sponsorship transactions, bringing in-depth industry knowledge to facilitate negotiations.

Our naming rights and sponsorships practice is among the most active practices in the nation, advising on major transactions coast-to-coast. We have negotiated a number of historic deals, ranging from counseling Brooklyn Arena, LLC and the then-New Jersey Nets in connection with the Barclays Center naming rights transaction, the largest arena naming rights and team sponsorship transaction in the history of sports and entertainment at the time, to recent headline-grabbing agreements such as a groundbreaking twenty-year naming rights and sponsorship transaction with SoFi that makes the digital personal finance company the exclusive naming rights sponsor of SoFi Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams, as well as representing Amazon in a naming rights transaction for the “Climate Pledge Arena,” the home of Seattle’s new NHL team, the Seattle Kraken and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, which is expected to be the first net zero carbon certified arena in the world and set a new sustainability bar for the sports and events industry.

Our Work

  • SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park: Representation in a ten-year naming rights transaction with YouTube for “YouTube Theater,” a 6,000-seat performance venue at the Hollywood Park sports and entertainment complex. YouTube will be the exclusive video services and music streaming services partner of YouTube Theater, SoFi Stadium, Hollywood Park, and the Rams and Chargers.
  • SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park: Representation in a groundbreaking twenty-year naming rights and sponsorship transaction with SoFi that makes the digital personal finance company the exclusive naming rights partner of SoFi Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams, and the official partner of each of the teams, as well as a partner of the performance venue and surrounding entertainment district.
  • SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park: Representation in a multi-year partnership for Google Cloud to power SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park’s digital innovation experiences—and YouTube to become the official video streaming sponsor of the Rams, Chargers, SoFi Stadium, and Hollywood Park.
  • SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park: Representation in connection with all major sponsorship transactions for SoFi Stadium, the 6,000-seat flex performance venue, and the entertainment district adjacent to SoFi Stadium. This work encompasses a multitude of high profile sponsorship transactions, including with PepsiCo, American Airlines Group Inc., Samsung, Ball Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., Constellation, and the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians.
  • Credit Karma: Representation of Credit Karma in a multi-year jersey patch sponsorship transaction with the Houston Rockets, which includes substantial in-arena and online presence and support of team community engagement efforts, along with Credit Karma Money becoming the presenting partner of the Rockets’ “First Shot” pre-game program.
  • Board of Trustees of the California State University (on behalf of its San Diego State University Campus): Representation of the Board of Trustees of the California State University, on behalf of its San Diego State University campus, in connection with all naming rights and sponsorship transactions relating to the new multipurpose sports and entertainment venue currently under construction on the San Diego State University (“SDSU”) Mission Valley site in San Diego, California, which, once completed, will serve as the home venue for SDSU’s men’s intercollegiate football team and other SDSU intercollegiate National Collegiate Athletic Association teams.
  • AT&T: Representation of the Miami Heat in a multi-year sponsorship transaction with AT&T, pursuant to which AT&T is designated the Official Sponsor and 5G Innovation Partner of the Miami Heat NBA franchise and the arena in which it plays, with a focus on applying AT&T’s technology to enhance live and virtual fan experiences, and on expanding diversity, equity and inclusion, and community.
  • Total Quality Logistics: Representation in a multi-year naming rights transaction with FC Cincinnati for “TQL Stadium,” a state-of-the-art venue that is one of the largest soccer-specific facilities in Major League Soccer and is the home field for FC Cincinnati.
  • Amazon: Representation in a naming rights transaction for the “Climate Pledge Arena,” the home of Seattle’s new NHL team, the Seattle Kraken, and WNBA’s Seattle Storm, which is the first net zero carbon certified arena in the world and sets a new sustainability bar for the sports and events industry.
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