Just thought I'd post this cause no one else has. I really dont even think about naming rights to stadiums anymore. Reliant Stadium sounds as good as anything else I guess. It doesnt really flow of my lips quite yet, but neither did Enron Field at first. ------------------ Remember.... You are not really drunk until you must hold on to the grass to keep from falling off the earth.
The only thing that bothers me about it is that they've now named five buildings Reliant something. It seems like that would sow confusion. Is the event at Reliant Arena or Reliant Hall or Reliant Center or Reliant Astrodome or Reliant Stadium. It's one of htose building at Reliant Park. You see how this has the potential for confusion. I'm hoping Reliant names the new Rockets' arena, too. Reliant Gardens or Reliant Place are still available. ------------------ Houston Sports Board
What is the name of Chuck Watson's business? Was it on this BBS somewhere that I heard his was the third largest energy company in town, and how ironic it would be if they tried to get naming rights on the new arena? ------------------ When you make an assumption, you make an ass out of yourself and umption. visit www.swirve.com
From the Chron: It's official: Reliant Astrodome By ERIC BERGER Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle Reliant Energy officially stamped its name on every building in the Astrodome complex Thursday, including the new football stadium and the venerable Dome itself. At a cost of $300 million, it's the biggest such naming deal of all time. It also completes the branding of every professional stadium in Houston with a corporate name, following a nationwide trend of naming buildings as premium promotional tools. With Compaq Center, Enron Field and now Reliant Stadium, some say Houston actually has kept some dignity in this crunch of commercialism. In Miami, hockey fans watch games in the National Car Rental Center and those in Buffalo, N.Y., the Midland Marine Arena. Baltimore football fans go to PSINet Stadium, while up the road New England fans attend CMGI Field. Then there's baseball in Oakland, Calif., where good seats are always available at Network Associates Coliseum. "At least Reliant Stadium sort of rolls off the tongue," said Jim Jackson, who wore a Texans hat while pumping gas Thursday at a service station near the Astrodome -- or now the Reliant Astrodome. "I can live with it." Reliant Energy officials said they hope so. For the next 32 years, the Texans will call Reliant Stadium home, and each of four other facilities at the sprawling complex will have a Reliant in front of its name. Reliant Park, as the Astrodome complex is renamed, will contain Reliant Stadium, Reliant Astrodome, Reliant Arena (formerly the Astroarena) Reliant Hall (formerly the Astrohall) and Reliant Center, an as-yet unbuilt exhibition center. Naming an entire complex is unprecedented, analysts say. "This deal is the 10-gallon hat of naming rights deals," said Rob Vogel, president of the Bonham Group, a national sports consulting firm. "It's Texas-sized in every way." Under terms of the agreement, which includes everything from stadium suites for Reliant officials at football and rodeo events to rides on the Texans team plane, the company will pay about $10 million a year. The football team will receive about 75 percent of that, the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo about 15 percent and Harris County 10 percent. The deal does not include a contract to provide energy to the entire complex. When terms of the deal were reported last week, some customers of the company's electric utility, Reliant HL&P, expressed their outrage that so much money could be paid for a name when electricity rates had just risen 11 percent and the utility was seeking another 11 percent increase. Reliant also announced Wednesday that its third-quarter profits had risen 37 percent over last year. Reliant officials said the money for the naming rights contract comes from the unregulated, private portion of its business, which is separate from the electric and natural gas utilities whose rates have risen sharply. Although the subsidiaries still share the same bottom line for now, Reliant is in the process of splitting into two separate entities by the end of 2001. One company would essentially provide the poles and wires for the delivery of electricity and natural gas to homes and businesses. This company would remain regulated by the Public Utility Commission even after electricity deregulation in Texas, which begins in January 2002. This company would not bear the Reliant name. The second company, which would eventually be named Reliant Resources, would generate energy and sell electricity in deregulated markets in Texas and across the country. This company would retain the naming rights contract. "What this does is set Reliant up for brand awareness in their back yard when the markets open up," Vogel said. "And it gives them a calling card nationwide for potential customers." Admittedly, Reliant would have preferred to announce a naming rights deal after the company has separated to avoid questions about gouging customers. "The timing could have been better from a public relations standpoint," said Steve Letbetter, Reliant's chief executive. Almost from the day about a year ago that the NFL announced that Houston was to receive an expansion team, Texans officials have worked on the naming rights deal. Other local naming rights bidders included energy company Dynegy, and national and international companies. With electricity deregulation looming, and Thursday's announcement, energy companies are now the fourth-largest category of businesses that have purchased naming rights agreements at professional sports stadiums. Banking businesses are first, followed by airlines and telecommunications companies. All along, analysts predicted the Houston deal would be a blockbuster because of the singular confluence of a stadium surrounded by four other facilities, the promise of hosting regular Super Bowls, and the presence of the rodeo. The name of a host stadium is heard by an estimated 1 billion people around the world on Super Bowl Sunday. Moreover, because other facilities such as the 700,000-square-foot convention center under construction -- now Reliant Center -- are included in the bargain, Reliant Park will be used an estimated 350 days a year. The previous high for a naming rights deal was $205 million paid over 27 years for FedEx Field in Washington, D.C., home of the NFL's Redskins. "No other facility in the world had the kind of naming rights opportunities we have here," said Texans owner Bob McNair. "We've got it all." I thought it was Marine Midland Arena rather than Midland Marine Arena. And I don't think any fans attend games at CMGI Field yet, since it won't be done until 2002, either. It's also sad to see that former Maverick Jimmy Jackson is pumping gas in Houston now, but at least he is a Texans fan. ------------------ Houston Sports Board
Reliant has stated that this years rate hikes had nothing to do with the $300 million spent on the naming rights for the new stadium......And pigs fly ------------------
Well, I'm just upset to hear that New Orleans is going to build a new retractable roof stadium for far less than what Houston is spending, yet the claim is that it'll be pretty much the same as Houston's. And, according to the one media outlet that has reported the story, the NFL has agreed to give the Saints $100 million for their stadium construction, all without a vote of the ownership, which is unprecedented. All that yet the AP and the Times-Picayune and the other TV stations in New Orleans and every national news or sports outlet have yet to say a word about it. And the Saints and the NFL have no press releases. It's amazing story, yet it's completely ignored by all but one news outlet. I will never complain about the Texans coverage in Houston again. At least they cover the stories here when they happen. ------------------ Houston Sports Board * DFW Sports Board LA Sports Board * Minnesota Sports Board
