Naming rights are a form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typically for an agreed time. The term typically ranges from three to 20 years for properties such as multi-purpose arenas, performing arts venues, or sports fields. Longer terms are more common for higher profile venues such as professional sports facilities. There are several different forms of naming rights. For example, a presenting sponsor attaches the name of the corporation or brand into a traditional name (e.g. Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and Smart Araneta Coliseum), whereas a title sponsor replaces the property's original name with a sponsor's chosen name (as with most sponsored sports venues), without referencing the previous name. Occasionally, the purchaser of naming rights may choose to donate the rights to an outside organization, typically one to which it is closely related. A notable example is Friends Arena, a major stadium in Stockholm. The facility was previously Swedbank Arena, but in 2012 the company donated the naming rights to the Friends Foundation, an organization sponsored by Swedbank combatting school bullying. Similarly, in 2018, the Kentucky Farm Bureau, a farmer lobbying and insurance organization, acquired naming rights to the University of Kentucky's new baseball park. The Farm Bureau donated those naming rights to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, which named the venue Kentucky Proud Park after the agency's brand for agricultural products produced in that state.
Stadiums
United States
Until the 1990s, most sports stadiums in the United States were given generic or descriptive names, often after the team that played there or a person associated with the team. The history of stadiums bearing an owner's name in the United States may date as far back as 1912, with the opening of Fenway Park in Boston. The stadium's owner owned a realty company called "Fenway Realty" (named for the nearby parkland), so the promotional value of the naming was likely considered. However, it is more widely believed to begin in 1926 when William Wrigley, the chewing gum magnate and owner of the Chicago Cubs, named his team's stadium "Wrigley Field". In 1953, Anheuser-Busch head and St. Louis Cardinals owner August Busch Jr. proposed renaming Sportsman's Park, occupied by the Cardinals, "Budweiser Stadium". When this idea was rejected by Ford Frick, the Commissioner of Baseball at that time, Anheuser-Busch proposed the title "Busch Stadium" after a company founder and the name was accepted. The venue was later replaced by Busch Memorial Stadium in 1966, and shortened to Busch Stadium in the 1970s. By the stadium's closure in 2005, Major League Baseball's policy for selling naming rights to non-owner corporations had changed—evidenced by Coors Field in Denver and Miller Park in Milwaukee (now known as American Family Field). Anheuser-Busch retained naming rights after selling the Cardinals and used the Busch name for a new Cardinal stadium opening in 2006. Foxboro Stadium, former home of the New England Patriots, was an early example of a team selling naming rights to a company that did not own it. The stadium bore the name Schaefer Stadium (after the beer company) from opening in 1971 until 1983. The first prominent example of a business purchasing the naming rights to a professional sporting venue as a form of advertising, rather than because the business was directly involved in the team's ownership or the venue's construction, was the opening of ARCO Arena, the home of the Sacramento Kings, in 1985. This was described as a "unique arrangement" at the time, but Kings co-owner Gregg Lukenbill suggested that it could set a precedent for other sports franchises. In college sports, Syracuse University's Carrier Dome opened with that name in 1980, after the Carrier Corporation donated $2.75 million toward the dome's construction. The practice of selling naming rights was popularized in the late 1990s. In 1994, only 7 percent of major professional sports venues in the United States were named after a corporate sponsor. By 2004, this figure had grown to 61 percent. As of 2025, 22 of 30 MLB stadiums, 27 of 30 NFL stadiums, and 29 of 30 NBA arenas have sold or are in the process of selling their naming rights to corporate sponsors.
Public reaction in the United States Public reaction to this practice is mixed. Naming rights sold to new venues is largely accepted, especially for well-established or locally connected buyers. Examples include Rich Stadium (now Highmark Stadium) in Orchard Park, Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh, and Coors Field in Denver. Selling naming rights to existing venues has been less successful, as in the attempt to rename Candlestick Park in San Francisco to 3Com Park. The public (and some media outlets) continued to call it Candlestick Park, as it was known for over three decades. After 3Com's agreement expired, rights were sold to Monster Cable, and the stadium was renamed Monster Park. San Francisco voters responded by passing an initiative (Proposition H) in the November 2004 elections, requiring name reversion to Candlestick Park once the contract with Monster expired in 2008. The initiative proved largely ceremonial, and was overturned by Proposition C in 2009 in response to difficult economic times. The naming rights to the park were never resold and the stadium was closed and demolished in 2014.
Other countries
Sports stadiums with naming rights deals can be found in Australia, Japan, China, Finland, Canada, Israel and Germany, where eight of the 10 largest football stadiums sold their naming rights to corporate sponsors. The practice is widening in the United Kingdom as well. The current stadium of Bolton Wanderers is the Toughsheet Community Stadium (after 17 years as Reebok Stadium, four as Macron Stadium and five as the University of Bolton stadium) and Arsenal Football Club's stadium (opened for the 2006/2007 season) is the Emirates Stadium, their previous ground being Arsenal Stadium. In cricket, the most famous example is The Oval, home of Surrey County Cricket Club. It has had several sponsors over the years, and is currently known as "The Kia Oval", having originally been known as the "Kennington Oval", after the London district it is located within.
Other examples
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