The MLS Dynamo have sold naming rights to BBVA Compass Bank for their new stadium in a deal valued at $20M over 10 years, according to a source tied to the negotiations. The international bank gets its name on the stadium plus branding opportunities inside the 22,000-seat facility, including the chairman’s club, a small private lounge reserved for company meetings. The bank also gets a suite and stadium-wide ATM exclusivity. The Dynamo, co-owned by AEG, and AEG Global Partnerships brokered the deal together; Dynamo Exec VP Steve Powell and AEG Global Partnership's Todd Goldstein and Nick Baker were the principals involved. BBVA Compass Bank, a Spanish company, has its Investment Solutions division based in Houston. The bank played a key role in financing stadium construction through the city’s tax increment reinvestment zone where taxes spurred by new development helps pay for those projects. In addition, at today’s press conference to officially announce the naming-rights deal, the Dynamo and the bank will unveil their “Building a Better Houston” initiative to encourage further development in the East End neighborhood of downtown Houston. BBVA Compass Stadium opens May 12 with AEG Facilities operating the building. Levy Restaurants will be the food provider pending a signed contract. Over the course of the season, the $80M facility will transition from Ticketmaster to Outbox, AEG’s new ticketing system (Don Muret, SportsBusiness Journal). Texas Southern will play its home football games at BBVA Compass Stadium, which “is otherwise going to be a soccer-specific site with occasional concerts and boxing matches promoted by Dynamo co-owner Oscar De La Hoya” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/14).
