World’s six stadiums popular for their naming rights

Earlier this week, Bank of Kigali acquired the naming rights of the Kigali Arena which, as a result, rebranded to BK Arena in a Rwf 7 billion deal that will last for a period of six years. The deal, the first of its kind for the state-of-the-art facility, was announced after several months of talks between the bank and venue management, QA Solutions. In no particular order, Weekend Sport looks at six stadiums in the world popular for their sponsored names. Emirates Stadium (Arsenal) Arsenal, Visit Rwanda’s tourism partner, were one of the first teams in England to jump on the trend of stadium sponsorship after inking a multi-year agreement with United Arab Emirates’ largest airline, Emirates. The deal, like most others on the list, included the lucrative stadium naming rights and kit branding, including on the jerseys for the men’s and women’s first teams – both of which are still present today. The partnership was extended until 2024 back in 2018, and is reportedly worth over £200m. Barclays Center (Brooklyn Nets) The Barclays Center is located in New York, and is one of the most popular NBA venues. Named after Barclays, a British multinational universal bank, the arena is setting a new standard as the showcase venue for the world’s most thrilling entertainment and sports events. A Jay-Z concert marked the opening of the arena in 2012. The location is one of the main reasons for the Barclays Center’s popularity as it is located in one of the world’s most vibrant cities, and is also home to NBA Franchise Brooklyn Nets. Allianz Arena (Bayern Munich) Bayern Munich’s home ground is one of eight stadiums on four continents, including four football stadiums, that Allianz pay to name. It’s reported that they pay around €30m a year in total for those naming rights, including for Juventus’ home stadium. It’s the German giants who take the lion’s share of that amount though, reportedly raking in £6.4m a year. The logo, however, on the outside of the ground has to be covered on European nights, since Allianz aren’t an official UEFA sponsor. Wanda Metropolitano (Atletico Madrid) When the legendary Vicente Calderon Stadium was closed back in 2017, Atletico Madrid moved into the brand new Metropolitano Stadium as their new home. Chinese IT company Wanda bought a 20% stake in the club and took over the naming rights of the training ground before extending the deal with the Spanish club to include the stadium name. They pay £8.4m a year, with one clause stating that they keep ‘Metropolitano’ in the name, in honour of the club’s first home stadium. Crypto.com Arena (Lakers, Clippers) People mostly knew the venue as Staples Center after American retail company, Staples, acquired the naming rights for the facility shortly before construction began in 1998. The venue is in the heart of Los Angeles and is home to two NBA franchises – the Los Angeles Lakers and the LA Clippers. The arena opened in 1999 and has since housed both NBA teams as well as the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL. Like Kigali Arena, a big number of Lakers’ supporters are still used to ‘Staples Center’ instead of ‘Crypto.com Arena’ even after the payment and cryptocurrency platform took over the facility’s naming rights in 2021. Although the center is relatively new, its popularity skyrocketed following the Lakers’ NBA dominance in the early 2000s. It is also the permanent venue for the famous Grammy Awards and has a 20,000-seat capacity. Etihad Stadium (Manchester City) The mega deal that the Premier League champions penned with Etihad Airways was the most lucrative in European football before Spotify agreed the acquisition of Barcelona’s stadium naming rights in a £236m deal, which takes effect in July as Spotify Nou Camp. The English club’s domestic dominance in the Premier League over the past decade played a big impact in the stadium’s popularity.

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World’s six stadiums popular for their naming rights