STADIUM SPONSORSHIPS: WHICH UNDERLYING DETERMINANTS ARE SIGNIFICANT IN APPRAISING A NAMING RIGHTS DEAL FOR A NORTH AMERICAN MAJOR LEAGUE SPORTS STADIUM?

This study looks into the specifics of corporate sponsoring of North American, professional sporting stadiums. The purpose of this study is to revaluate which underlying determinants influence a final sponsorship price. Prior studies by DeSchriver and Jensen (2003), Gerrard and Parent (2006), and Centracchio (2022) were referenced. There are many factors present when purchasing stadium naming rights, a hedonic pricing model is needed to account for said factors. Data was collected from each stadium currently used in the North American major sports leagues: the National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball. An OLS regression was run for two equations, using 100 observations of current and past stadium naming rights deals. Variables found to be significant were the per capita median income of the stadium’s county, the construction price of the stadium, the year the deal was signed, whether a team made the playoffs the season prior to the deal, whether a stadium hosts multiple tenants, and the deal’s term.