The Saints are soliciting agency help to sell naming rights to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome after the automaker's deal expires in '21, according to sources. In May, Mercedes-Benz, which also entitles the Falcons' venue in Atlanta, confirmed it would not renew its 10-year deal in New Orleans. At the time, the Saints had planned to handle things in-house. But that has changed, and the usual suspects have been invited to pitch, sources said, including Elevate Sports Ventures, WME Sports, Excel Sports Management and Oak View Group. A decision could be imminent, though the Saints declined to comment.
Experts would usually expect the price of naming rights to decline for a second-generation deal, especially for a facility as old as the Superdome. But the Saints believe they can get an increase on the current deal (roughly $5M annually) for several reasons. A $450M renovation is coming, plus hosting duties for the '22 Final Four, Super Bowl LVIII in '24 and the Sugar Bowl/CFP rotation. “They’re always in the cultural conversation,” one source said. The area's small corporate base will be a challenge, as Louisiana has only two Fortune 500 companies -- CenturyLink and Entergy -- with an HQ in the state.
