In Rough Times, Brands Pass On Cowboys Stadium Naming Rights

The Dallas Cowboys $1.15 billion football stadium is open for business. And like many newborns, it has yet to be named.

AT&T isn't commenting on rumors that it's taken its brand off the table for Dallas, but a deal looks unlikely after the company became a sponsor of the nearby performing arts center. The pricetag for naming rights to Cowboys Stadium, said to exceed $20 million annually, isn't producing many other interested parties. The New York Times tried to help Dallas by soliciting reader suggestions ("The Ego Bowl”).

Thanks to the recession, stadium naming rights aren't the hot tickets they once were for big brands. In the wake of Citigroup's acceptance of government bailout funds, Citi explored breaking its $400 million deal for Citi Field with baseball's New York Mets. And the downturn is international. When the recession caused AFC Bournemouth's Dean Court branding deal to fall through, the directors put the naming rights up for raffle. (Just £495.00 plus VAT per entry!)

Whoever does end up on the Cowboys' stadium has one advantage: the unnamed stadium is new. Brands that buy rights to storied stadiums often face the challenge of fans unwilling to let go of the old name, especially in cases of populist outrage, like Citi's deal with the Mets. (Remember Enron Field?) Campaigns like Naming Wrongs' "I still call it" are ever more popular.

And then there is the larger question: For every Target Center, there is a TD Banknorth FleetCenter Shawmut Boston Garden. So what brand would even bother with the risk in Dallas?