Naming rights deals are big business at stadia across the world, but the situation in Ireland is a little more nuanced as organisations balance tradition with commercial pressures writes Rob Hartnett.
Barely a week goes by without news of a major stadium naming rights deal around the world. The US is massive for this sector of the sponsorship market, enhanced by the number of new build stadia that are coming to so many cities and in so many different sports. In Los Angeles, Crypto.com and SoFi have paid a collective $1.3bn to have their names attached to pro sports grounds within the city limits for the next 20 years.
It is a similar story in Asia and across Europe. We have the Allianz Arena in Munich, the Emirates in London, the Mercedes Benz Shanghai Arena, and potentially the Google Stadium as home to Tottenham Hotspur. In Ireland the market is smaller but can still boast its own multi-million euro case study in form of the Aviva Stadium.
Prior to its demolition and reconstruction, the old Lansdowne Road rugby ground had tradition aplenty but was clearly no longer fit for purpose as a national stadium.
And yet as the new structure rose from the suburban landscape, there was a sense that ‘Lansdowne’ should be its forever name.
Aviva’s association with the new build was for an initial ten years to 2020, and in 2018 it was extended to 2025. This was in large part because of the success in establishing the formal Aviva Stadium in the public mind and then to the shortened version of ‘the Aviva’. Etihad has had similar naming success with Manchester City’s home ground, as has Emirates in North London with Arsenal.
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With existing facilities with a more rooted history of a name, and a desire on the part of fans and rights holders to stick with it, things become a little less obvious in terms of sponsor benefit, and that is where much of the Irish market is. Croke Park is the biggest stadium in Ireland, but despite the travails of the Catholic Church the Archbishop’s name is unlikely to be prefaced by a commercial brand anytime soon.
Around the island there are Energia Park and Kingspan Stadium in rugby, both of which have had a reasonable level of acceptance. At other venues, commercial pressures have led to deals being done but only as an additional name. James Nowlan served for 20 years as the president of the GAA at the turn of the 20th century. The main stadium in Kilkenny was named after him 95 years ago and has stuck. In 2019 it became UPMC Nowlan Park, named for the international healthcare provider with strong roots in Ireland.
That same year saw LIT appended to the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, and then switched in 2021 to TUS (Technological University of the Shannon) as the third-level college was upgraded. We also have Chadwicks Wexford Park, FBD Insurance Semple Stadium and Kingspan Breffni Stadium in Cavan. The size of these deals vary, as does the appetite and desire to really force the brand. Certainly, there is a greater reluctance than in other global markets.
The GAA loves its traditions and heritage, but as venues move into a much more modern space than they have been, the need to fund the right level of experience that people are demanding means that some of those traditions may need to be relocated from the name above the gate to a display within the boardroom.
Naming rights are currently being marketed for Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork and Tallaght Stadium in west Dublin. There was significant interest in the tender process for the home of Shamrock Rovers, though it remains to be seen whether commercial ambitions can coalesce with the vision of the stadium owner, South Dublin County Council.
Rob Hartnett is the founder of Sport for Business, a publishing, events, and networking business at the heart of the commercial world of Irish sport.
