CMGI Buys Stadium Naming Rights

Aug. 25 -- Patriotism is admirable. But is it worth $114 million to CMGI?

The Internet conglomerate this week said it would spend at least $7.6 million a year over 15 years for the right to name the new home of the National Football League’s New England Patriots CMGI Field.

But the deal, among the richest such sports-venue agreements ever, raises questions about what kind of audience CMGI is playing to, and the cost-effectiveness of measures it’s taking to reach that audience.

Clearly, the deal to name the stadium will give CMGI a lot more visibility than, say, the now-maligned strategy of paying for a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl. Between signs on scoreboards, at the stadium’s main entrance and on nearby roads and highways, CMGI will get 2.8 billion ad impressions per year, according to Chairman David Wetherell.

And that figure doesn’t include other benefits of the deal, such as a suite at the stadium and sponsorship rights to each season’s first home preseason game. The stadium is to be inaugurated for the 2002 season.

CMGI says it will use the deal to promote its own brand as well as the businesses of firms it controls or in which it holds a majority stake. Among those are the advertising firm Engage and the AltaVista Internet portal.

Plays Well at HomeMeasuring the benefits of stadium-naming deals is difficult, but there are positives, especially on the home turf. In a 1997 survey conducted by sports