Anaheim Stadium Will Carry Name of Sponsor; Company to Be Announced

In a deal that could mean millions of dollars in revenue for Walt Disney Co., the entertainment giant plans to announce on Monday an agreement with a corporate sponsor to add its name to the Anaheim Stadium.

Anaheim Sports Inc. President Tony Tavares confirmed Thursday that a deal with a corporate sponsor to rename the Big A will be revealed at a news conference Monday. Tavares would not elaborate on the identity of the sponsor except to say “stay tuned.”

Disney owns the Angels and Anaheim owns the stadium. But under the stadium agreement between Disney and the city, Anaheim will not receive any revenue from a sponsorship deal.

The deal gives Disney exclusive control over sponsorship and promotional agreements relating to the team, the stadium and events held or scheduled at the stadium. Disney is spending about $70 million and the city $30 million to renovate the stadium as a baseball-only venue.

But the contract does require that the word “Anaheim” be included in any name given the stadium. Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, renamed for Arrowhead Water Corp. in 1993, is subject to the same contractual arrangement.

Anaheim officials didn’t wait to find out who the sponsorship deal is with to take sides on the worthiness of the move.

“They don’t have to share 10 cents with us,” said Anaheim Councilman Bob Zemel of the deal. Zemel, who voted against the stadium deal, has been an outspoken opponent of it ever since.

“It’s embarrassing to me that the millions of dollars that are going to come in in revenue are gonna bypass the Anaheim taxpayers. It’s our stadium. Well, it was.”

But Councilman Lou Lopez said the city wins by keeping itself in the stadium’s name.

“In stadiums all over the United States it’s done, it’s routine. The beneficiary for this is the city of Anaheim,” Lopez said.

Corporate sponsorship is the name of the game in professional sports today, said John Nicoletti, an Orange-based marketing consultant, whose clients include the Anaheim Convention Center.

“Players’ salaries and the cost of operating a franchise make it necessary for corporate sponsorships to be procured,” Nicoletti said. “The biggest ticket item is the naming rights of the franchise itself, and the second obviously would be the facility where the team plays.”

Nicoletti said sponsoring sports and entertainment facilities is attractive to corporations seeking to multiply the number of times their name appears.

“So with a building, sponsorship is so valuable because not only do you have people attending the games, like at the Pond, but then you have the additional impressions in the broadcast and print media,” he said.

Brad Mayne, Pond of Anaheim general manager, would not reveal how much Arrowhead pays to be the arena’s sponsor. He said a 10-year agreement was struck with Arrowhead last year to continue the sponsorship.

Mayne said both Ogden Entertainment, which has a management agreement with the city for the arena, and Arrowhead are pleased with the results of the sponsorship.

“It’s beneficial to have a sponsor who works hand in hand with us with the promotion of the facility,” Mayne said, adding that as a result it has been easier to sell additional sponsorship within the facility.

Arrowhead was also named a corporate sponsor of the Mighty Ducks, whose home is the Pond.

Robertson said the sponsorship relationship “has been phenomenal.” He said it has given Arrowhead exposure in print and broadcast media.

“For us, they’ve worked with us on promotion of the team, not only in advertising but all facets of broadcasting. They’re a real strong ally for us.”

In separate negotiations, Anaheim officials are seeking similar corporate sponsorship for the Anaheim Convention Center, which the city owns. Revenue generated would go into city coffers to pay for services.

“We think it’s a million-dollar-a-year plus proposition,” said Convention Center General Manager Greg Smith. “It’s something that we think is prudent of us to pursue to see if there’s a revenue stream we could generate.”

Smith said the city is still in the early stages of pitching the idea to potential sponsors.