A change of stage names

A new name is joining the roster of Southern California concert venues. Not a new building, just a new name.

After more than three decades as one of the region’s most prominent entertainment venues, the Universal Amphitheatre, which has hosted appearances as varied as Frank Sinatra, Ozzy Osbourne, Barney and Pope John Paul II, is now the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk under a naming-rights deal with a leading musical instrument manufacturer, Nashville-based Gibson Guitar Corp.

With the 10-year deal, the Universal joins the growing number of entertainment facilities locally and nationally selling naming rights to outside corporations, with Staples Center in downtown L.A., Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, the Kodak Theatre and the Wiltern LG Theatre among them.

The amphitheater, which holds about 6,000 people, will get a face-lift as part of the deal, including the addition of a luxury skybox suite that Gibson will control, a guitar motif in the decor, a lighting upgrade and an evolving “guitar garden” of illuminated guitar-shaped sculptures to be decorated by stars in one of several charity tie-ins to the arrangement.

Universal officials said they will start calling it the Gibson Amphitheatre immediately, using the name and logo on tickets and other materials. The complete changeover of signage and construction will take a few months, with a series of events planned for the summer to mark the official completion.

The deal stemmed from a larger initiative within the NBC Universal media and entertainment conglomerate to find opportunities for various corporate alliances for properties and endeavors, which has led to partnerships with Volkswagen and MasterCard, among others.

“We approached quite a few people and Gibson really sparked to the idea immediately,” said Syd Smith, vice president of business development for Universal Studios Partnerships, a division of NBC Universal dedicated to such deals. “For us that was great news. It’s such an intuitive brand and an organic fit to the amphitheater.”

That sets it apart from many naming-rights deals. Where the pairing of office supplies stores, airlines, cellphone companies and the like with entertainment and sports sites has made for some rather odd names (Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Marysville, Calif., for example), this is a case of a venue used primarily for music being named for a music company.

“It’s not just a good use, but a smart use,” Smith said. “We wouldn’t put any name on the amphitheater, but something that is right for the consumer. Gibson is attractive not just from its prestige, but philanthropic efforts. It’s a perfect marriage for a music venue.”

That was the appeal to Gibson Chairman and Chief Executive Henry Juszkiewicz.

“There’s a whole context of reaching the music community,” he said. “That’s our people. And Los Angeles is the national center of that. It’s a dream deal for us.”

What also sets it apart is that where most naming-rights deals involve general consumer brand names from multibillion-dollar corporations, Gibson is a niche-oriented company with annual revenues of roughly $300 million, a small fraction of the worth of a Verizon or Staples or Coca-Cola.

Though neither Smith nor Juszkiewicz would confirm the figure, the cost is estimated at about $1 million annually -- chump change for a global mega-corporation, but a huge part of Gibson’s annual marketing budget.

“As well-known as the Gibson name is, it’s not a product that everyone is going out and buying,” said naming-rights expert Jim Andrews, editorial director of the Chicago-based IEG Sponsorship Report newsletter. “Assuming they are paying the going rate for what these deals normally go for, the question comes up as to how they are going to get a return on their investment.”

Juszkiewicz readily acknowledges that it’s a big gamble.

“It’s our largest commitment ever, by far -- not only a big number for the first year, but a 10-year commitment,” he said. “I was very, very nervous for a long time. I have a great belief that it’s the right thing to do, but it’s kind of like that first new car you bought and you’re hoping you did well.”

The Universal Amphitheatre started life in 1972 as an open-air facility, a centerpiece of the growing Universal Studios theme park. A decade later it was remade as an indoor theater, its semicircular arrangement becoming familiar not just to local music fans, but to a national audience through such televised events as the Academy of Country Music Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards.

The rival Greek Theatre, though, is not expected to join the naming-rights bandwagon. The contract between the Nederlander Organization, which operates the Greek, and the city of Los Angeles, which owns it, prohibits such a move, Greek general manager Mike Garcia said.