AZ Sports Native
It's a dry heat.
University of Phoenix lands stadium naming rights
Cards and biggest private college in the U.S. agree to a 20-year deal
Dawn Gilbertson
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 26, 2006 12:00 AM
When the Arizona Cardinals host a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs in a couple of Sundays, the teams won't play at Cardinals Stadium.
They will take the field at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Under a naming-rights deal to be announced today, the heralded new football stadium in Glendale will be rechristened University of Phoenix Stadium.
The 20-year deal, the financial terms of which will be disclosed today, will boost the for-profit school's national profile and give the Cardinals millions of dollars to add key players, executives from the school and the team said.
"We're trying to get the dialogue about the University of Phoenix ratcheted up," said Brian Mueller, president of Apollo Group Inc., the school's Phoenix-based parent company.
He said the naming-rights deal, the first sports-marketing venture for the company, is part of a major new branding campaign for the University of Phoenix. A new advertising campaign is due out early next year.
Mueller said the University of Phoenix, one of the largest advertisers on the Internet, is a recognized name, but outside of its students, faculty and employees, people don't know much about the school and its programs. It is the nation's largest private university, with 250,000 students, most of them working adults. Its parent company had $2.3 billion in revenue last year, ranking it among Arizona's largest companies.
"We want to lend more credibility to the students who earn degrees from here," Mueller said.
Michael Bidwill, Cardinals team vice president and general counsel, said the team talked to a "number of different" local and national companies about a naming-rights deal for the $455 million stadium, with its first priority local corporations. He declined to name any other companies it considered. The owners of the new Pink Taco restaurant offered $30 million for a naming-rights deal in August, but the Cardinals immediately dismissed it as a publicity stunt.
Bidwill said the Cardinals approached the University of Phoenix, which hasn't had so much as a luxury suite at Cardinals games or other venues until now.
"It's part of the deal," Mueller deadpanned.
Bidwill and Mueller said it's a good match on several fronts. They said the University of Phoenix, like the stadium, is known as being cutting edge and innovative.
Bidwill said, "When you look at University of Phoenix, that's what they're really about: They're about technology and improving people's lives. It's a very good, wholesome product, and we're proud to be associated with it."
The school's founder, John Sperling, is considered a pioneer in for-profit education and online education, although the school does have its share of critics, especially among traditional educators. Apollo also has had its share of challenges the past two years, the most recent of which is an investigation into its stock-option grants.
Bidwill said the naming-rights revenue is a "critical piece" of new stadiums.
In the National Football League, naming-rights revenues are not subject to the league's revenue-sharing agreement and thus have become an even more valuable income stream for the teams involved.
Bidwill said the Cardinals would use the money from the University of Phoenix deal, to be paid annually over the 20 years, to field a competitive team.
"That's what we're about is building a championship team," he said. "This revenue is a big piece of allowing the team to go out into free agency and to move forward."
The biggest NFL deals to date were completed in 2000 and 1999. The naming rights to Reliant Stadium, where the Houston Texans play, cost Reliant Energy about $10 million a year for 32 years. The naming rights extend to three other facilities, including the Reliant Astrodome.
In 1999, FedEx Corp. paid $205 million for 27 years for the naming rights to the Washington Redskins home field in Landover, Md.
The market has cooled a bit since then. A recent NFL naming-rights deal involved a 10-year, $30 million agreement the Tennessee Titans reached with Louisiana-Pacific Corp., a maker of building products in Nashville. It will pay $3 million annually to call the Titans' stadium LP Field.
Asked if he has any preferences for the inevitable acronyms for the 11-syllable new stadium name - the former Bank One Ballpark will forever be known by many Diamondbacks fans as BOB - Bidwill said, "It's going to be called University of Phoenix Stadium."
Cards and biggest private college in the U.S. agree to a 20-year deal
Dawn Gilbertson
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 26, 2006 12:00 AM
When the Arizona Cardinals host a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs in a couple of Sundays, the teams won't play at Cardinals Stadium.
They will take the field at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Under a naming-rights deal to be announced today, the heralded new football stadium in Glendale will be rechristened University of Phoenix Stadium.
The 20-year deal, the financial terms of which will be disclosed today, will boost the for-profit school's national profile and give the Cardinals millions of dollars to add key players, executives from the school and the team said.
"We're trying to get the dialogue about the University of Phoenix ratcheted up," said Brian Mueller, president of Apollo Group Inc., the school's Phoenix-based parent company.
He said the naming-rights deal, the first sports-marketing venture for the company, is part of a major new branding campaign for the University of Phoenix. A new advertising campaign is due out early next year.
Mueller said the University of Phoenix, one of the largest advertisers on the Internet, is a recognized name, but outside of its students, faculty and employees, people don't know much about the school and its programs. It is the nation's largest private university, with 250,000 students, most of them working adults. Its parent company had $2.3 billion in revenue last year, ranking it among Arizona's largest companies.
"We want to lend more credibility to the students who earn degrees from here," Mueller said.
Michael Bidwill, Cardinals team vice president and general counsel, said the team talked to a "number of different" local and national companies about a naming-rights deal for the $455 million stadium, with its first priority local corporations. He declined to name any other companies it considered. The owners of the new Pink Taco restaurant offered $30 million for a naming-rights deal in August, but the Cardinals immediately dismissed it as a publicity stunt.
Bidwill said the Cardinals approached the University of Phoenix, which hasn't had so much as a luxury suite at Cardinals games or other venues until now.
"It's part of the deal," Mueller deadpanned.
Bidwill and Mueller said it's a good match on several fronts. They said the University of Phoenix, like the stadium, is known as being cutting edge and innovative.
Bidwill said, "When you look at University of Phoenix, that's what they're really about: They're about technology and improving people's lives. It's a very good, wholesome product, and we're proud to be associated with it."
The school's founder, John Sperling, is considered a pioneer in for-profit education and online education, although the school does have its share of critics, especially among traditional educators. Apollo also has had its share of challenges the past two years, the most recent of which is an investigation into its stock-option grants.
Bidwill said the naming-rights revenue is a "critical piece" of new stadiums.
In the National Football League, naming-rights revenues are not subject to the league's revenue-sharing agreement and thus have become an even more valuable income stream for the teams involved.
Bidwill said the Cardinals would use the money from the University of Phoenix deal, to be paid annually over the 20 years, to field a competitive team.
"That's what we're about is building a championship team," he said. "This revenue is a big piece of allowing the team to go out into free agency and to move forward."
The biggest NFL deals to date were completed in 2000 and 1999. The naming rights to Reliant Stadium, where the Houston Texans play, cost Reliant Energy about $10 million a year for 32 years. The naming rights extend to three other facilities, including the Reliant Astrodome.
In 1999, FedEx Corp. paid $205 million for 27 years for the naming rights to the Washington Redskins home field in Landover, Md.
The market has cooled a bit since then. A recent NFL naming-rights deal involved a 10-year, $30 million agreement the Tennessee Titans reached with Louisiana-Pacific Corp., a maker of building products in Nashville. It will pay $3 million annually to call the Titans' stadium LP Field.
Asked if he has any preferences for the inevitable acronyms for the 11-syllable new stadium name - the former Bank One Ballpark will forever be known by many Diamondbacks fans as BOB - Bidwill said, "It's going to be called University of Phoenix Stadium."
