Rose Bowl May Be Judged by the Company It Keeps

Would a Rose Bowl by any other name be as sweet? At a time when corporate sponsorships are seen as a distinct possibility at Dodger Stadium and the Coliseum, the city of Pasadena is gingerly studying a possible naming-rights deal for the venerable bowl.

The city’s recent decision to fund a $25,000 naming-rights study isn’t going to sit well with tradition-bound football fans still reeling from a deal that allows ABC-TV to promote the annual Jan. 1 Rose Bowl game as “presented by AT&T.;”

But in a world where a stadium’s bottom line is as important as its goal lines, observers say the city of Pasadena has a fiduciary responsibility to consider the economic benefits of aligning the city-owned stadium with a corporate sponsor.

The possibility that a corporate logo might one day be tacked onto the fabled bowl’s walls is just one of several sports marketing issues that the city-owned stadium is tackling. The Rose Bowl is copyrighting the stadium’s familiar rose logo so it can sell Bowl-branded merchandise. And, it is readying a five-year business plan that will serve as a road map as the stadium enters the 21st century.

“We’re charged with taking the Rose Bowl and developing it as a business would,” said Daniel Castro, president of the city-appointed board created five years ago to oversee Rose Bowl operations.

Economic realities, city politics and outside forces are combining to force Pasadena to review how its celebrated bowl operates. For all its tradition, and its role as UCLA’s home field, the stadium’s biggest source of revenue is a weekend swap meet.

In an era when corporate sponsorships are the norm, the absence of one at the Rose Bowl “is kind of cool, kind of retro,” said Rick Burton, director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon in Eugene. “But the big question is what do the taxpayers of Pasadena want the Rose Bowl to be. [Sports venues] can become a dinosaur very quickly. So the next question is whether the Rose Bowl is the T rex of the 20th century, the biggest dinosaur of them all?”

Built in 1921 to house the annual bowl game and the city’s annual July 4 celebration, the bowl that anchors the scenic Arroyo Seco is filled with tradition. But traditions do die. Many sports marketers say it’s only a matter of time before Fox Corp. trades Dodger blue for sports marketing gold by announcing a naming-rights deal for the stadium in Chavez Ravine.

The Rose Bowl’s caretakers also are watching the NFL’s bid to return to Los Angeles with more than a passing interest. Should professional football return--whether at a refurbished Coliseum or a new stadium at Hollywood Park--sports marketers say there are no guarantees that such valued Rose Bowl tenants as UCLA wouldn’t jump ship.

The city and the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Assn. share a common interest in maintaining an attractive and financially viable Rose Bowl--but are at odds over how to achieve that goal.

Tournament officials, hosts of the Jan. 1 parade and bowl game, don’t relish talk of a naming-rights deal and the sale of bowl-branded merchandise. “It’s not good business for us to tell the city what to do,” said Jack French, the tournament’s chief executive. “But we’ve let [the city] know that we think those moves would create a lot of confusion. We think there are ways for them to maximize their revenue without giving away a title sponsorship.”

The Rose Bowl’s future continues to be defined by Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco ordinance, a 21-page document designed to ensure the “preservation, enhancement and enjoyment of the Arroyo Seco as a unique environmental, recreational and cultural resource.” The ordinance effectively limits the Rose Bowl to 12 major events a year. Any additional events that will draw more than 20,000 people first must be cleared by the city.

That means the Rose Bowl can’t do what such competing venues as the Staples Center are doing--jam its schedule with events to build revenue--and use the resulting stream of paying customers as leverage to increase the value of a naming-rights deal.

Pasadena’s ordinance also fails to provide clear guidance on what kinds of events should be booked. Lilith Fair and the recent Women’s World Cup soccer tournament seemed to have passed muster with most Pasadena residents. But there’s decided opposition in some camps to a proposed motocross race later this year.

For Rose Bowl General Manager Darryl Dunn, a key goal will be finding the appropriate blend of sporting, entertainment and civic events to keep the Rose Bowl on an even financial keel. “The bowl has to carefully weigh the benefits of having incremental events there,” Carter said. “Does it have the right mix now? Or is there a substitute use, perhaps a more profitable one out there?”

The Rose Bowl hosts about 50 events a year of varying sizes. UCLA football and the annual bowl game clearly are the media stars. But, from a revenue standpoint, the Rose Bowl’s most reliable tenant is a weekend swap meet. And, after setting aside cash to cover $47.4 million in debt, the huge stadium feeds less money into the city coffers than the nearby municipal golf course, which now is managed by a private company.

Sports marketers offer widely divergent views on the potential value of a naming-rights package at the Rose Bowl. One consultant set the value at less than $1 million, while another suggested that the city could reap as much as $10 million.

“The value all depends on how the corporate name is attached, if the name of the building is changed to reflect or include the name of the sponsor,” said Sean Brenner, editor of Chicago-based Team Marketing Report. “You’re talking the Rose Bowl game, which has major marquee value, and UCLA football, which is a major player on the collegiate sports scene, so there’s definitely some major value attached to this stadium.”

If the city of Pasadena does sign a naming-rights deal, there’s a distinct possibility of a battle of the brands come New Year’s Day.

“There’s no obligation on the part of ABC to mention the stadium sponsor’s name during its coverage,” tournament executive French said. “And there’s no obligation for ABC to show any of the stadium sponsor’s signage. . . . ABC could choose just to say ‘here’s the Rose Bowl game presented by AT&T; and never mention the name of the stadium.’ ”

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Naming Costs

Philips Arena*, Atlanta, $180 million

Staples Center*, Los Angeles, $68.8 million

Labatt Park**, Montreal, $66 million

Comerica Park*, Detroit, $66 million

Bank One Ballpark, Phoenix, $66 million

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Bay, Fla., $55 million

Edison International Field, Anaheim, $50 million

*Facility under construction

**Not yet under construction

Source: Team Marketing Report