SoFi Stadium – Naming Rights
VISION
Selling naming rights and founding partnerships to the new NFL stadium being built in Inglewood, CA, by Los Angeles Rams Owner/Chairman E. Stanley Kroenke. The stadium will be the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams and will host a variety of events year-round including Super Bowl LVI in 2022, the College Football Championship Game in 2023, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games in 2028. Located on the site of the former Hollywood Park racetrack, the stadium is the centerpiece of a 298-acre mixed-use development featuring retail, commercial office space, a hotel, residential units, and outdoor park spaces.
PROJECT
Los Angeles is home to 11 major professional sports teams, plus several top-tier NCAA DI universities. Los Angeles is also home to Hollywood and boasts one of the largest film, television, gaming and technology industries in the world. While the culmination of all these attributes make LA desirable from a marketing perspective, they also create immense competition for brand and advertising dollars. Both tenant NFL teams recently relocated back to the LA market and are amid growing their respective fan bases and launching their brands. The LA Chargers relocated to LA from San Diego (2017, 1-year history in LA). The LA Rams relocated to LA from St. Louis, MO (2016, 49-year history in LA). Although justified and supported by third-party valuation analysis (CSL), we set out to find the largest Naming Rights deal in NFL and US history. In order to make this an attractive package for brands, we had to establish an agreement between the venue and the respective teams that would allow us to package all the exclusive rights together.
The Legends Global Partnerships team engaged Legends Global Sales for suites, premium, GA tickets and SSL program, Legends Global Planning for valuation, feasibility and financing, in addition to Legends Project Development, Legends Global Technology Solutions, Legends Food & Beverage, Legends Merchandise, Legends Attractions (Tours).
A targeted list of brands was cultivsated that fit the prospect model for qualified candidates for this opportunity. The team went on a 6-month strategic US market tour to try and share our story with decision makers to gauge interest before the NFL officially allowed us to go to market in early 2017. They launched a targeted campaign that marketed Hollywood Park as a ‘365 Global Entertainment Destination and Smart City’ helping elevate our story to be much larger than just another NFL opportunity. A best-in-class immersive Premiere Center in Playa Vista, CA was constructed to showcase the multiple entertainment venues, hospitality offerings, advance technology and the entire 298-acre development vision in detail. As we worked through various iterations and waves of discussions, we identified emerging key-categories that would complement ownerships grand vision, with world-class technology being at the forefront. FinTech was one of the key categories identified which ultimately led us to SoFi, a northern-California based enterprise.
RESULTS
SoFi Stadium announced their naming rights partnership on September 15, 2019 before the LA Rams regular season home opener.
PRESS RELEASE
