1. C
orporate branding is a growing phenomenon
that has experienced a real boom in recent years.
In light of the recent naming rights deal secured
by Aviva for Lansdowne Road, it is an issue nonetheless
that leads one to ask who benefits, and is corporate
sponsorship the way forward for the sporting and
cultural venues in this country?
Naming rights deals are not a new phenomenon. In
fact, they have been commonplace in the US since 1926,
when the Chicago cubs took on the name of a well-
known chewing gum brand for their home, Wrigley
Field. In fact, out of the leading 121 teams in North
America’s top four sports – basketball, hockey, NFL and
baseball, over 80 of these have their home grounds named
after corporate sponsors.
This side of the pond, corporate branding has become
big business too, with the €75 million euro deal between
Bayern Munich and Allianz for the Allianz arena, hailed
as the biggest European naming rights deal to date.
Ireland’s first major naming rights deal was the O2
building, which replaces the former Point Depot. The
partnership is between the world’s largest music promo-
tion company, Live Nation, and O2 Telefonica Ireland.
Many would agree that the old Point was in dire need of
a rebrand when it finally did close its doors in 2007.The
old stadium was outdated and had substandard acoustics.
The new arena boasts amphitheatre style seating, creating
both a better acoustic and visual experience. The O2
venue has been extremely successful so far, due in no small
way to the fact that it is a very good fit for the brand.
According to Majella Fitzpatrick, O2’s head of corpo-
rate affairs “for many people in Ireland, music is their
number one passion. By embarking on this partnership
with Live Nation, we have become part of the amazing
experiences that 2 million people enjoy each year, while
at the same time bringing many unique benefits to our
customers. It puts us in a great position to bring the ben-
efits of the ongoing convergence of music and mobile to
11
Venue sponsorship
Sponsorship of venues is a powerful tool, but can be met with
controversy. Aisling McKenna looks at this new phenomenon in Ireland.
A Rose by any other name…
dymount, Dublin 4
7
erthotel.ie
BERT
00
Spring 2009 • Conference Guide
1-20 Conf Spring 09:Foreword 3/4/09 14:59 Page 11

2. the Irish concert-going public in new and innovative ways,
now and into the future.”
Fitzpatrick affirms that it was a highly sought after
naming rights deal, and O2 was delighted to come out on
top. She feels the reason the telephone giant was ahead of
the pack was down to the fact that both O2 and Live Na-
tion were “passionate about what really matters” with re-
gard to the concert-going experience and “in a unique po-
sition of being able to extend that experience before and
after the event to our customers.”
O2 has experienced very positive feedback from its
customers, particularly on its Blueroom website,
www.o2blueroom.ie. But the positive reaction is not
unique to O2’s customers, Fitzpatrick asserts: “During
the development of the the O2 sponsorship programme,
we felt we wanted to do more than name the venue. We
wanted to share in visitors’ experiences while they were in
the venue. So we developed a number of added extras that
make the experience special and memorable for all visitors.”
Of course, being an O2 customer has its benefits. Ul-
timately, the special privileges that they enjoy – which in-
clude priority ticketing, fast-track access to the venue and
entry to the venue’s designated O2 bars – are expected to
have a very positive impact on their loyalty to O2. Ac-
cording to Fitzpatrick, “We already know from the expe-
rience of O2 UK with the O2 arena that strong loyalty to
the brand and a reduction in consumer churn can be di-
rectly correlated to their involvement in the O2 in Lon-
don.” It is likely to attract many new customers also, as “the
competition simply won’t be in a position to compete with
us in the same way.”
Fitzpatrick confirms that the partnership will continue
to grow and develop. “What we can provide to our cus-
tomers by way of an enhanced experience the O2 is lim-
itless and will evolve in many exciting and innovative
ways in the course of the sponsorship.”
There is no question that the venue has been a re-
sounding success. However, in the case of the proposed
Aviva Stadium, a certain amount of scepticism exists. In
a country like Ireland where corporate naming rights are
still a relatively new concept, it is perhaps inevitable. A
venue such as Lansdowne Road, which has been a part of
the Irish sporting scene since the 1870s, holds a strong
emotional attachment for legions of sports fans in this
country. Despite the fact that Lansdowne Stadium orig-
inally took its name from 18th century English landlord,
the Marquis of Lansdowne, for some the name stands for
something inherently Irish and still invokes a profound
sense of national pride. Even social networking site Face-
book has no less than 10 groups campaigning for the
name to be preserved.
JohnTrainor, MD of sports sponsorship agency Onside,
believes that once Irish consumers have the opportunity to
see the benefits that the Aviva sponsorship will add to the
overall stadium experience, they are likely to respond well,
based on the largely positive experiences for sponsors such
as the Emirates Stadium in London and the O2 venues in
London and Dublin.
In research conducted by Onside in October 2008, six
out of 10 Irish adults were positive or neutral to the sell-
ing of sponsorship rights for major stadiums. Going on
these results, it would seem that any opposition to the
Aviva naming deal may simply be a case of overzealous na-
tional sentiment in the hands of a few.
Trainor states that, when asked in an online poll
which brands consumers thought would be best suited to
the sponsorship of the proposed stadium, companies
from the insurance sector were spontaneously amongst
the top brands mentioned, resulting in the insurance sec-
tor being voted as one of the top five best-suited spon-
sorship partners. According to Trainor, the results high-
lighted in consumers’ minds the “inherent natural fit” of
this particular sponsor. Indeed, there are obvious associ-
ations of health and fitness, which can be attributed to
both venue and sponsor.
Trainor points out that the success rate of naming
rights deals is generally high, especially if sponsors become
actively involved in the whole project. “The requirement
on the part of a new sponsor is that they are seen to be en-
hancing the whole experience by being part of it rather
than just sticking their name on the stadium and leaving
it at that.” Part of the Aviva deal is a commitment from the
12
Venue sponsorship
Conference Guide • Spring 2009
1-20 Conf Spring 09:Foreword 3/4/09 14:59 Page 12

3. company to support rugby and soccer grassroots pro-
grammes. Ideally, this will create real synergy between the
brand and its target market.
The partnership should also be beneficial to the Aviva
brand. According to Onside research, one in three adults
would think more favourably of a company that has a
sports stadium named after it.
The deal signed by Aviva is understood to be in the re-
gion of €45m over a 10 year period. Plans for the new
venue certainly look impressive, and there are high hopes
for it, with FAI chief executive John Delaney describing it
as a “place where dreams are realised and memories are
made”. Philip Browne, chief executive of the IRFU believes
it will be “an engine to drive our sports and our economy
in these difficult times”. It is predicted that the stadium will
inject up to €250m into the local economy annually.
Although other Irish sports grounds have not been ret-
icent in taking up sponsorship deals – Dubarry Park in
Athlone and Kingspan Century Park in Monaghan being
two obvious examples – the case ofThomond Park in Lim-
erick illustrates how a potential naming rights deal can be
affected by a negative reaction from fans. Munster rugby
fans, as well as public figures including the Mayor of Lim-
erick Joe Leddin, were very vocal about their opposition
to the renaming of their hallowed sports ground.
Plans for a stadium rename were subsequently aban-
doned. Official reports state that “the decision was not
taken due to lack of commercial interest” but that “the ap-
propriate natural fit didn’t fall into place.” Naming rights
were to be sold instead for the individual stands, withToy-
ota as a major sponsor. Interestingly, the Toyota/Munster
rugby partnership now has a top-five spot in Onside’s con-
sumer poll on the most appealing sponsorships of 2008.
It should be noted however that sports and cultural
venues received significant government funding in the
years of the Celtic Tiger. In 2006 alone, Thomond Park
received a sum of €3m and Galway’s Terryland Park
benefited from €500,000 in Government funds. In these
challenging economic times, funding is thin on the
ground. For some, it is now a question of not looking a
gift horse in the mouth.
This was certainly the view of Sean Feeney, Mayo
county secretary with regard to the proposed naming
rights deal for McHale Park. “Some people might find it
less than appealing, but we’re living in a commercial
world. Money has to be brought in from somewhere.”
In spite of the current economic climate, Onside pre-
dict that sponsorship will rise by 3% this year to €134m.
According to Trainor, “Major global brands like Coca-
Cola, McDonalds and RBS have recently made public
their strategic intent to continue to use sponsorship to
demonstrate their commitment and strength to con-
sumers in these uncertain times.”
€130 million was spent in sponsorship in 2008, and
the trend is set to continue in 2009. According to the On-
side Sponsorship Outlook 09 report, one in three Irish
sponsors expect to increase their sponsorship spend in the
coming year. Venue naming rights and rugby sporting
events are believed to hold the greatest potential oppor-
tunities for sponsors in the future.
In fact, in economic downturns, sponsorship is one
marketing tool that is seen as being relatively “recession-
proof”. According to the report, it is the one form of mar-
keting that can effectively send out a message of stability
and reliability to consumers in need of reassurance. Con-
sumers in turn would much rather that brands spend
their marketing budgets on sponsorship than “wasting” it
in costly advertising campaigns. In fact, traditional adver-
tising will suffer most, as marketers seek out more accu-
rate and relevant ways to target consumers. More interac-
tive forms of sponsorship which have the ability to
stimulate sales and product trials will be the most impor-
tant factor for marketers in 2009.
There is no doubt that naming rights partnerships can
be mutually beneficial for both sponsor and venue alike.
The reality is that in the case of the O2 and the Aviva Sta-
dium, we have two world-class venues, the scale of which
never would have been financially possible without their
corporate sponsors. This leads us to the inevitable con-
clusion that, ultimately there is quite a lot to this nam-
ing business, if we’re only willing to wake up and smell
the roses. I
The new Aviva Stadium
13
Spring 2009 • Conference Guide
1-20 Conf Spring 09:Foreword 3/4/09 14:59 Page 13