Sep

28

Public vetting for naming-rights candidates

Filed Under Sports Business News 

As the New York Giants and Mets recently learned, public vetting is needed before signing a naming rights deal with any company. Not only have past deals harmed a team’s PR (think Enron and the Houston Astros), but the possibility of a potential naming rights deal with Allianz, a German-based insurer, understandably angered fans and the deal was dead later that week. 

An article in the Sports Business Journal compared a naming-rights deal to that of selecting a vice presidential running mate. And what are the two key rules? Do no harm and “nothing vets like the process.” Well, the NY Times reported the possible deal in an NFL notes column on September 1. Perhaps that information was leaked before the Giants and Jets had time to properly vet Allianz, but we just don’t know. 

Okay, so why is Allianz such a bad idea for these New York teams? As NY Times‘ Richard Sandomir wrote:

“Allianz insured facilities and personnel at concentration camps like Auschwitz and Dachau. Kurt Schmitt, its chief executive in the 1930s, served as Hitler’s second economics minister and can be seen in a photograph from a rally wearing an SS-Oberfuhrer’s uniform and delivering the Nazi salute with Hitler standing in front of him. Like other insurers in Germany at the time, Allianz followed anti-Semitic policies by terminating o refusing to pay off the life insurance policies of Jews, and sent cash that was due beneficiaries and survivors to the Nazis. It also became the insurer of Jewish valuables taken by the Nazis.”

An editor at Forbes blogged about this very issue and ponders why Allianz was such a big deal when other companies could be seen to have similar historical implications.

But the boycott and death of the Allianz sponsorship begs the question: What about other sports related deals with companies that have ties to governments that have committed atrocities in the past? …

Why stop at stadium naming rights?

Mercedes-Benz, a huge part of the Hitler war machine, sponsors the NBA, NFL and PGA golf tournaments. Should the auto maker be given the boot? There is a lot in a name—both money and emotion—when it comes attached to a property that will be given enormous attention. But shouldn’t the rules be applied evenly?

As this Forbes’ article discusses, naming-rights are big money for teams and help pay for these expensive new stadiums. Team executives need to not only consider if the financial deal is worthwhile, but they also need to consider any potential negative PR implications.

Comments

Leave a Reply