Howdy! It’s Jason Wilson, filling in for Terry Lefton this week.
Intrigued by the McDonald’s foray into stadium naming rights, I got SBJ research gurus David Broughton and Emma Grace Jimenez on the horn to learn a little bit more about which fast food brands have put their monikers on sports venues.
I don’t have any Words of Wisdom to offer, other than what I routinely tell others in emails and other comms: Be safe, and be well.
A rendering of the Chicago Fire's forthcoming soccer stadium, which will be known as McDonald's Park under a new naming-rights agreement. Chicago Fire
McDonald’s Park isn’t a newfangled sort of “PlayPlace” for your kids to romp in at the chain’s restaurants. It’s the name of the Fire’s upcoming MLS stadium in Chicago.
The 22,000-seat stadium should open in 2028, and it’ll bear the McDonald’s name through 2040. SBJ’s Alex Silverman reports it’s “technically a 14-year deal, with two bridge years prior to the facility’s opening.”
This got me to thinking: How many other stadiums bear the monikers of other fast-food joints? The only two that came to mind was Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena and Louisville’s KFC Yum Center.
I pinged SBJ Research Director David Broughton and Research Assistant Emma Grace Jimenez to learn more. Turns out, fast-food companies don’t have much of an appetite for sponsoring sports venues, with just eight companies (including McDonald’s) doing so, and they encompass venues for minor-league teams, colleges and major pro leagues.
The WNBA’s 30th season boasts a roster of 46 official sponsors. NBAE / Getty Images
The WNBA’s 30th season boasts a roster of 46 official sponsors that matches last year’s Opening Week league record, and includes 11 brands that have signed in the past 12 months. For the fourth consecutive year, CarMax served as the Opening Week’s presenting sponsor. Gatorade and Nike, which have been with the league since the beginning, returned this season. AWS last week joined the WNBA Changemakers Collective, a group of seven partners that the league calls “purpose-driven companies working to empower players and the league, increase visibility, and drive business transformation.”
Under Armour, a footwear sponsor since 2017; YouTube TV (since 2018); Glossier, Moët Hennessy, Meta Quest and Microsoft (all since 2020); and Opill contraception (2024) did not return this season.
The annual upfronts from the major networks and streamers are more than a media story; it’s also about watching the ad rates they get from brands for their programming. And sports continue to play a key role in these advertising spends.
SBJ media reporters Austin Karp and Josh Carpenter reported on the ground from the upfronts. They kept an eye not just on the sports taking center stage during the presentations but also the sports-adjacent shows and docuseries in the works.
U.S. Ski and Snowboard signed an eight-year sponsorship with The North Face, bringing in the popular brand as its official apparel sponsor, reports SBJ’s Rachel Axon.
The Kings made Sutter Health their jersey patch sponsor with a wide-ranging multiyear deal that also installs Sutter Health physicians and orthopedists as the franchise’s team doctors, writes SBJ’s Tom Friend.
Airbnb reached a deal with NASCAR Holdings and Speedway Motorsports to embed its listings into five of their tracks’ websites, notes SBJ’s Adam Stern.
Stern also writes that Kalshi is sponsoring Nate Diaz in Netflix’s debut MMA card this weekend at Intuit Dome, as the predictions market continues to pepper the marketplace with deals.
Foot Locker is bringing together athletes from basketball’s biggest brands to power “Hoops Lives Here,” a new year-round marketing campaign reinforcing the retailer’s position as a central distribution and storytelling hub in hoops culture, writes SBJ’s Na’Andre Emerson.
Cisco and the USGA extended their longstanding technology relationship for an additional five years and are planning AI-focused initiatives together, reports SBJ’s Rob Schaefer.
Longtime GMR Marketing exec Todd Fischer is moving to fellow Omnicom sports/experiential agency Optimum Sports as chief strategy and property officer — a new position there, writes SBJ’s Terry Lefton.
