MetLife Buys Naming Rights to Meadowlands

Met Life Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.

Date Announced: Aug. 23

Owner/Tenant: New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority/New York Giants and New York Jets

Terms: $17 million a year for 25 years

The much-anticipated naming rights agreement was made official Tuesday during a press conference with team and company officials. With the former Meadowlands Stadium now finally anchored with a naming-rights sponsor,  Cowboys Stadium in Dallas is the last new NFL Stadium not to have a naming-rights partner.

"(MetLife Stadium) has some of the highest value of any sports venue in the country, because it’s not just the NFL but it has two teams,” said Jesse Rybeck, director of Business Development for Premier Partnerships, a national naming-rights and sponsorship agency. In April, Rybeck brokered a deal for the home of the Oakland (Calif.) Raiders to change its name to Overstock.com Stadium

“From a frequency standpoint, the downside for most NFL facilities is the number of home games. That’s what makes this deal so valuable,” he said. “For MetLife, this was a no-brainer move to lock up this category. People cringe when we call this type of deal a bargain, but it truly is when you factor in that it's the country's largest media market, it's home to two teams in the biggest league around and it's part of a brand new facility. From a business standpoint, a new facility is much more valuable because it offers naming-rights partners many more activation opportunities.”

Changes to the stadium will include four illuminated MetLife signs on the exterior, and a 120,000-sq.-ft. branded space at the stadium's main entrance. MetLife has been a partner with the stadium since it first opened, purchasing a $7-million-a-year “cornerstone” partnership, making it one of four major sponsors of the building.

"Mark Lamping (president and CEO of New Meadowlands Stadium Co.) came to see me at the end of the football season this year," said Beth Hirschhorn, chief marketing officer for MetLife during yesterday’s press conference announcing the deal." He said to me, ‘I think it’s time we talk about naming rights,’ and I said, ‘I think you’re right.’"

Besides being home to two popular National Football League teams, the stadium will also host the 2014 Super Bowl.

“This is the number one sports complex in the world,” said Woody Johnson, the team’s Chairman and CEO, during the press conference. “It’s unique in so many ways. Having two NFL teams within walking distance of New York is critical,” later adding, “Naming rights are naming rights, but Met Life Stadium is going to take it to a much higher level.”

Besides owning a blimp that is regularly spotted flying over the stadium, MetLife also owns the rights to Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. The company purchased the worldwide rights in the financial services category for all Peanuts characters in 2006, and Snoopy’s image is expected to be incorporated throughout the stadium and on promotional materials.

“Woody, you take Plaxico, we’ll keep Snoopy,” joked Giants Chairman Steve Tisch with the Jets CEO. Early this season, the former Giants wide receiver signed with the Jets after being released from prison weeks early. Plaxico Buress served a two-year stint with a stop at Riker’s Island in New York for gun charges.

Interviewed for this article: Jesse Ryback, (310) 656-2500 x12