CAA Sports has been retained by Serie A club AS Roma "to sell naming rights and other-top-tier sponsorships" for its $300M stadium and entertainment complex, scheduled to open in '16, according to Terry Lefton in this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The facility is "expected to host 200 to 300 events a year and will include a 52,500-seat soccer stadium, three indoor and outdoor theaters -- ranging from 900 to 14,500 seats -- along with a retail and restaurant complex and an office park." CAA Sports has "not done a naming-rights deal in European soccer, though it has sold marketing inventory for top clubs, including FC Barcelona and Chelsea." CAA Sports Head of Global Sales Paul Danforth said that the company has "been making informal sales calls over the past few weeks; formal presentations will follow" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/9 issue). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Rebecca Sun noted AS Roma also has opened an office in N.Y. "to serve as a permanent base for its commercial operations in the U.S." The team is the "only one in the Italian league to be owned and managed by a U.S.-based group, Boston’s Raptor Group" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 6/9).
