The 49ers yesterday announced a sponsorship deal that makes Yahoo the sports content, social networking, and photo/video sharing partner for both the team and Levi's Stadium. The 10-year agreement runs through the '23 season. Yahoo's sponsorship assets will include entitlement and branding of the Fantasy Football lounge and its two adjacent viewing platforms in the suite tower. Yahoo also receives integration within the stadium as well as via broadcast and digital media (49ers). In S.F., Katie Dowd writes, "Yahoo's fantasy football empire is the most obvious and natural tie-in for the 49ers." The team also plans to "integrate fantasy football into the game-day experience throughout the stadium." Flickr will "provide the photo sharing component of the deal." Flickr booths will be "set up around the stadium concourse" where fans can upload their photos, and "some will be shown on the big screens" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/18). Yahoo Senior VP/Brand Creative Bob Stohrer said that the company "wanted to be part of a stadium he said would 'set a new standard' for technologically advanced NFL home fields." Stohrer "conceded fans could still upload photos to non-Yahoo social media sites such as Instagram or Facebook but hopes the possibility of seeing their shots on the 190-foot-wide scoreboard during the second half of 49ers games would be enough incentive for fans to use Flickr" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 6/18). TECHCRUNCH.com's Greg Barto wrote partnerships like the 49ers-Yahoo deal are "becoming more commonplace in the sports world," as tech companies "have been no stranger" to stadium naming-rights deals. While financial terms were not disclosed, "one can assume that such a high-profile stadium set to host the Super Bowl in three years can charge quite a premium" (TECHCRUNCH.com, 6/17).
