A naming rights sponsorship deal sounds like a great solution for many of us.
Change the name of your venue, programme, event or whatever it might be and sell it as a premium offering to a brand for wads of cash. You get a big cash injection simply by putting a brand’s name next to yours.
Easy, right?
Unfortunately, for many first-time naming rights sellers, these deals aren’t always as lucrative as they seem. There are hidden traps that, if overlooked, can eat into your sponsorship fee faster than you think. If not accounted for, they can leave your naming rights deal worth far less than expected.
In this post, I’ll walk you through what a naming rights sponsorship really is, what to avoid, and how to structure better deals that protect your bottom line.
What Is a Naming Rights Sponsorship?
A naming rights sponsorship is when a brand purchases the exclusive right to name your event, venue, program, or other asset. It’s often seen as a top-tier sponsorship opportunity and can be positioned as a premium offering.
But unlike logo placements or standard packages, naming rights change your brand identity, at least partially. That change comes with cost and responsibility. It often means updating every piece of marketing collateral to include the sponsor’s name or visual identity and depending on your setup, that could be a massive job.
Naming rights can be a win-win if done properly. But without careful planning, you risk losing more value than you gain.
Common Mistakes in Naming Rights Sponsorship Deals
Selling Naming Rights Too Cheaply
Let’s say you sell a naming rights sponsorship for $100,000. Sounds great on paper.
But then you start the rebrand. New email signatures, websites, vehicle wraps, posters, flyers, registration forms, advertising campaigns, pull-up banners, all of it needs to be updated. You’ll likely need to hire a graphic designer, cover printing and signage costs, and absorb labor expenses to audit and distribute the new branding.
Before you know it, $30,000 of your sponsorship fee is gone. Add in best-practice servicing costs (10% of the fee), and you’re down to $60,000. Factor in tickets, hospitality, and other promised inclusions, and you’re left with $40,000, the same as what you charge for lower-tier sponsors who didn’t get naming rights.
Too many people undervalue the true cost of naming rights. If you don’t factor in these hard costs, you’ll quickly realise you’re working at a loss.
Not Tying Naming Rights to Performance Metrics
Another trap? Failing to link the deal to tangible brand outcomes.
Naming rights aren’t just a visibility play, they should deliver on real objectives for the sponsor. If there’s no performance-based thinking behind the offer, you’ve missed the point. You’ve also missed an opportunity to charge more, negotiate better, and create long-term value.
Sponsorship is a business deal. Treat it like one.
Ignoring the Sponsor’s Long-Term Goals
A lot of organisations sell naming rights without fully understanding the brand’s strategic goals. Is the brand trying to enter a new market? Improve community perception? Retain VIP clients? If you don’t build your naming rights package around these goals, it becomes a shallow offering and the sponsor knows it.
Remember: it’s not just about putting their name on your event. It’s about helping them achieve something meaningful with that visibility.
Forgetting the Value of Exclusivity
Naming rights, by nature, are exclusive. That exclusivity has value, but it also has limits.
If you’re not protecting the brand’s position through category exclusivity, marketing support, or activation opportunities, you’re selling them short. And if you’re including too many other sponsors in the same space, you dilute the impact of the naming rights deal altogether.
Exclusivity should be highlighted, priced, and enforced, not given away lightly.
How to Structure Better Naming Rights Sponsorships
To avoid losing value on naming rights deals, you need to approach them with strategy and foresight.
One simple way is to build rebranding costs into your proposal. This might be a one-time $10,000 fee in year one of the contract, or a shared 50/50 cost split with the sponsor. Either way, someone needs to pay and it shouldn’t always be you.
You can also offer the sponsor creative control as part of the package. Let them use their own agency or in-house team to design the co-branded identity. This not only saves you time and money, but may result in a more polished outcome due to their larger budgets and access to top-tier designers.
Lastly, consider whether naming rights are even the best path for your sponsorship strategy. You might find that a well designed, performance based package at a lower price point delivers just as much value, with fewer complications.
If you want help with sponsorship, we help people like you to earn 3 x more sponsorship revenue on average. Book a call with us today to see how we can help.
