原文出自nola.com http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1103181990211770.xml Hornets to sell naming rights Denver-based group hired to seek sponsor Thursday, December 16, 2004 By Benjamin Hochman Staff writer The venue that houses the Hornets might not be called New Orleans Arena much longer. After three years of frustration, the Hornets have taken matters into their own hands, retaining the Bonham Group, a Denver-based sports and entertaining marketing firm, to lead the naming rights campaign. New Orleans-based SMG, in coordination with the Hornets, unsuccessfully had sought sponsors to buy the naming rights of the Arena and the Superdome during the past few years. "Our agreement to move (to New Orleans) gave us the naming rights to the facility," said Sam Russo, the Hornets' executive vice president of business. "For the last couple of years, we have been working in conjunction with SMG and various groups they have hired to try to accomplish getting a naming rights partner. "We felt it was time for us to get more involved and start a more aggressive campaign to get the naming rights sold." Russo estimated it will take up to 18 months to find the Arena a sponsor. The Bonham Group has negotiated more than $1.3 billion in sponsorship contracts, and it negotiated naming rights agreements for venues such as PETCO Park in San Diego, the Toyota Center in Houston, U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Ford Field in Detroit and PNC Park in Pittsburgh. "They have been very successful doing this from one end of the country to the other," Russo said. "They're the most likely group to be able to fit us into this complex system of sponsorships." "This facility is one of the most exciting arenas in the South," said Dean Bonham, chairman and CEO of The Bonham Group. "It deserves a suitable naming rights sponsor. "We believe selling the Hornets as a stand-alone property makes a lot of sense." SMG's Doug Thornton, the general manager of the Superdome and the Arena, said the Hornets' decision is praiseworthy. His group had spent an estimated $250,000 on two firms that unsuccessfully tried to sell the naming rights to the facilities, and the Superdome naming rights currently are at a standstill. "Let's face it, until the Superdome situation (the ongoing talks with the Saints) gets settled there's not going to be a naming rights sponsor for the Dome," Thornton said. "All the Hornets are doing now is saying, 'We're going to spend the money, we're going to take the risk.' " The inducement deal currently between the state and the Hornets has the team receiving $1.5 million every July 5, until the team sells the Arena's naming rights. Once that happens, if the naming rights amount is for more than $2.5 million per year, the state is in the clear, and the Hornets keep the profits. If the Hornets sell the naming rights in excess of $1.5 million but less than $2.5 million, the state has to pay the team the difference, so it reaches a total of $2.5 million annually. In regards to the length of a naming rights contract, Russo said, "We'll try to match it with the length of our lease on the building. Right now, after this year, we'll have eight years left on our lease of the building. So we'll do a naming-rights deal for eight years, and we'll try to match it with the two five-year options we have in the Arena." . . . . . . . Benjamin Hochman can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3405. --

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