MLB team wants a say in AAA Park Name

[footballfiji]

Though this was pretty interesting:

The Braves wouldn't want Gwinnett County's new baseball stadium to be named, say, Pepsi Field.

And that has made for a thorny issue in finalizing a contract between the Braves and Gwinnett on the stadium that the county plans to build for the Atlanta team's top minor-league affiliate.

According to contract drafts obtained under Georgia's Open Records Act, the Braves are seeking the right to block the county from selling stadium naming rights to competitors of some companies, like Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines, that have exclusive sponsorship deals with the team.

Gwinnett has resisted the Braves' pitch on this point because it could result in lower naming-rights revenue for the county. Negotiations continue.

Although both sides express confidence the issue will be resolved, both also say it's an important point.

"We're well past any kind of deal-killer stage, if you would ... but I think it's a fair characterization to say this is the biggest issue upon which we are still negotiating," said attorney Lee Tucker, who is negotiating the contract with the Braves for the Gwinnett Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The county, which will own the stadium, has empowered the GCVB to develop the facility and to enter into a contract with the Braves.

Braves executive vice president of business operations Mike Plant said the team needs to protect significant, long-standing connections that some companies have with its brand.

"It'd be difficult for us to agree to a [conflicting] deal in the soft drink category ? with Pepsi, for example," Plant said. "We have a long-term and very substantial relationship with Coke."

Plant would not name other sponsors the Braves seek to protect. "It's a small list," he said, "and one that we have said to [Gwinnett] we have to protect now that a [minor-league] team is going to be 35 miles north of us."

From Gwinnett's standpoint, reducing the field of potential naming-rights partners is problematic because the county is counting on that revenue stream to help pay stadium debt. "The most important point is, we want to be able to market naming rights to the stadium to as broad a pool of partners as possible and to generate as much from the sale of naming rights as possible," Tucker said. "The concern would be that to the extent you limit the pool, that potentially limits the [value]."

Groundbreaking on the $45 million stadium, where the Braves plan to move their Class AAA affiliate next year, is tentatively planned for next month. The county plans to borrow $33 million to fund the construction around April 1. Tucker said it's his understanding the contract with the Braves needs to be finalized at that time.

The Braves and Gwinnett signed a letter of intent and a term sheet in January, and have been negotiating details of a definitive contract since.

The term sheet did not address the issue of the Braves' existing sponsors. But in one draft of a proposed definitive contract, the Braves sought the right to veto potential naming-rights partners in any of 14 categories in which the team has an exclusive sponsorship deal. The categories ranged from home improvement to hospitals, from supermarkets to telecommunications.

Plant said the Braves, in subsequent negotiations, have reduced the number of categories in which they are seeking veto rights.

Said Tucker, the GCVB attorney: "I think it is a major issue, certainly, but I think it is one where we can be creative and work through."

If naming rights are sold by the county before Aug. 31, 2009, the term sheet calls for the Braves to receive $350,000 annually from the sale and for Gwinnett to receive the rest. The breakdown changes if naming rights are sold later.

A feasibility study commissioned by the county estimated the naming rights would fetch $650,000 to $750,000 per year in a long-term deal. But Gwinnett is hoping for more: An internal financing document projected the county's portion at $500,000 per year, meaning the name would have to sell for at least $850,000.

[sacker12]

Ambush marketing at it's finest.

[Gothamite]

It is interesting, but this isn't your typical major league/minor league situation.

The Richmond Braves are owned by the Atlanta Braves (IIRC, the Braves own all their affiliates except for Myrtle Beach). So this isn't the major league club dictating terms for its affiliates, as your headline implies, but the minor league team itself trying to placate its major sponsors.

[ericjjyy]

Makes sense, conflict of interest. The braves are sponsored by coke-cola, so why should their future players be sponsored by pepsi. Almost like in nascar, when the official cell phone company is nextel/at&t and jeff burton's sponsor is cingular.

[CC97]

I'd agree with the Braves if they paid for the construction of the stadium or owned the stadium... the Braves should offer to reimburse the county for any potential revenue lost by this demand of the tenant club.

[winghaz]

As a guy who works for Pepsi, I have to chuckle at this.

[winghaz]

As a guy who works for Pepsi, I have to chuckle at this.

Especially the idea of an Atlanta team having a minor league team playing at, say, Pepsi Field.