Matters of Scale: Pricey Names
Fee paid by entertainment mogul David Geffen to the University of California/Los Angeles
to name its new medical school after him
$200 million
Fee paid by Las Vegas casino GoldenPalace.com for the right to name a Virginia woman’s
unborn triplets
$12,000
Fee the company paid to name a previously unknown species of monkey found in Bolivia
in 2005 (Callicebus aureipalatii; “of the golden palace”)
$650,000
Highest bid offered during an auction sponsored by U.S. Marine Sergeant Cody Baker
for the right to rename him (as “FreebeeStore.com”)
$30,000
Fee proposed by New Berlin, Wisconsin, district schools to buy the right
to name their football fieldhouse
$500,000
To name a school conference room
$25,000
To name an auditorium seat
$250
Fee paid annually by Coca-Cola Corporation for naming rights to Minute Maid Park
(football stadium) in Houston, Texas
$6,000,000
Total estimated value of current major sports naming rights deals in the United States
$4.3 billion
Number of times the former Boston Garden (now the TD Banknorth Garden) has been
renamed for a fee since 1993 (including, for two days, “Yankees Suck Center”)
34
* ”I would to God thou and I knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought.” William Shakespeare, King John.
SOURCES: Geffen School: Dig In Research, Inc. GoldenPalace.com fees and Boston Garden: Wikipedia. Cody Baker: OnTheCommons.org/David Bollier. New Berlin schools: NPR/WUWM radio, Milwaukee. Coca-Cola: ESPN.com Sports Business. Naming rights deals: Naming Rights Online.