The rumored merger of telecom providers Sprint and Nextel could affect naming rights deals Nextel has with NASCAR and Sprint has with a proposed new arena in downtown Kansas City, MO.
According to published reports, Sprint and Nextel have reached a tentative agreement in a deal worth an estimated $34.8 billion. The deal would make the merged company the third-largest U.S. cellular carrier, and there is a chance the Nextel and Sprint names will be retained.
That would be good news for Nextel, which successfully completed its first season as title sponsor of NASCAR’s top racing series, the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, replacing long-time sponsor Winston. Nextel saw its subscriber base grow from 11 million in February, when the Daytona 500 kicked off the NASCAR season, to 15 million in October, when Kurt Busch was crowned NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion.
Andrew Giangola, director of business communications for NASCAR, declined to comment, saying the league is still waiting to hear the facts.
Mike Mooney, a spokesperson for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, also declined comment.
Sprint announced in July that it would attach its name to Anschutz Entertainment Group’s proposed Kansas City arena. Overland Park, KS-based Sprint agreed to pay AEG $2.5 million annually for 25 years to call the facility Sprint Center.
In the majority of naming rights deals, contingencies are put in place to allow sponsors to change the name of an event or building should a merger, acquisition or corporate name change take place, the reports said.
For example, Hartford, CT-based Shawmut National Corp. in 1994 announced a naming-rights deal for an arena under construction in Boston, then merged with Providence, RI-based Fleet Financial Group months later. The arena took the Fleet Center name when it opened in 1995.
Fleet completed a merger last month with Charlotte-based Bank of America, which, for now, has decided to retain the Fleet Center name. Drug store chain CVS, Woonsocket, RI, is reportedly in negotiations to buy out Bank of America’s naming rights.
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