By Rick Horrow and Karla Swatek
May 10, 2013
Levi Strauss has purchased the naming rights to the San Francisco 49ers’ new $1.2 billion stadium. The company will pay $220 million over 20 years for the naming rights, and will call the facility Levi’s Stadium. At an average of $11 million annually, the deal represents about 4% of the company’s annual marketing budget. The stadium is a heavy favorite to be awarded Super Bowl 50 after its main competition, Sun Life Stadium in Miami, failed to secure a stadium renovation deal before the May 21 Super Bowl vote.
Levi’s has 12 stores in the greater San Francisco market, so it’ll be interesting to see how the company activates the sponsorship deal. For example, they could attempt to sell jeans at the stadium’s team store or could offer discounts to fans that present a game ticket stub. No matter what they decide to do, it was wise to reach a deal well before the stadium opened, since fans will have ample time to familiarize themselves with the new name.
