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Think college stadium naming rights are an easy sale? Not so fast!
Schools walk a fine line when it comes to slapping corporate names on their venues — but are they sometimes too cautious, leaving millions of dollars on the table?
Kyle Rowland
December 11, 2025
Good morning,
Slow Wednesday, huh? Once you have your fix of Sherrone Moore stories, check out this piece on college football stadium naming rights and how the process plays out. Unless you’re an administrator, I’m guessing it’s not what you think. Enjoy!
As we near the end of the year, I’m planning to do a mailbag, answering readers’ questions about NIL, revenue sharing, the business of college sports … or which conference Notre Dame should join. Send me a tweet or email me at [email protected]. Remember, there’s no such thing as a dumb question!
— Kyle
Think college stadium naming rights are an easy sale? Not so fast!
When a college athletic department decides it’s time to slap a corporate name on its football stadium, it’s not as easy as calling AT&T, Coca-Cola or JPMorgan Chase and saying, “Hey, do you want your name on our stadium and the 25-yard lines?!”
The process is messier and longer than Joe Fan realizes. Finding the right partner is complicated, often featuring two to three years of negotiations, roadblocks and surprises. Market influences and a narrow pool of potential partners can muddle the operation.
Why, you might be wondering, is it all so complicated?
First off, nationwide bidding wars are not the reality. Instead, local partners are the most viable option; 80 percent of naming rights deals are completed with companies within a 250-mile radius of the university.
Colleges care more about who they partner with than professional franchises do. A university wants a sponsor that aligns with its mission. There’s also a real emotional attachment to old stadiums. The Rose Bowl, Michigan Stadium, Notre Dame Stadium and Ohio Stadium aren’t just venues. They’re temples.
Not so much for sterile NFL stadiums built in the suburbs in the 1990s or 2000s. An office park in Bessemer, Ala., has more character.
“You really have to be thoughtful in terms of making sure not to alienate the fan base,” said Allison Fillmore, Learfield’s senior vice president of commercial partnerships. “It’s a platform that is really visible, so you need to make sure you have the right brand.”
