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Stanley Cup, L.A. Live keep Kings’ sponsors spending

Big summer for club produces over $100M

How much is a Stanley Cup championship worth in sponsorship revenue? With more than $100 million worth of major partnership renewals and new sponsorships sold since June, when the Los Angeles Kings won their second NHL title in three years, the folks at AEG Global Partnerships have a good idea.

Boosted by both the Kings championship and the team’s goodwill throughout the Los Angeles market, as well as the good fortune of having some of its biggest sponsorship categories due for renewal, AEG officials said their summer sales haul was nearly 25 percent higher than in 2012, when the Kings won their first Stanley Cup.

Massive media exposure throughout the digitally fueled L.A. Live downtown sports/entertainment/retail complex was key to the deals.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
The driving impetus behind the massive revenue figure was in the team’s founding partner level, which includes some of the most visible inventory at one of the country’s busiest entertainment facilities that sits in the nation’s second-largest market.

McDonald’s and Anheuser-Busch, who have been original founding partners at Staples Center, extended their deals another five years, while Nike, a partner since 2008, renewed at the top level for an additional three years.

Toshiba came on as new founding partner, receiving top-tier inventory in a new five-year deal, and along with smaller deals like one with Tyco, they all helped AEG record a nine-digit summer of sales across team, arena and L.A. Live assets. Sources close to the company said it was a record revenue figure for the company during an offseason sales cycle.

Massive media exposure throughout the digitally fueled L.A. Live downtown sports/entertainment/retail complex was a key ingredient in each of the deals.

McDonald’s, an original founding partner at Staples, has been the Kings’ presenting sponsor for the past two seasons, but it now gets its logo on the team’s practice jerseys for the first time as part of its new deal. It also receives quick-service restaurant category exclusivity and ads on the large LED boards outside the Staples Center for the first hour before the arena opens for every regular-season Kings game.

Other assets include a presenting sponsor logo placement across team marketing collateral; sponsorship of various events outside the arena, including the Kings’ 5K charity event; team-controlled electronic and digital media; sampling rights over 10 games for coffee and smoothie drinks at the arena; the usual tickets and hospitality; premiums for various Kings legends nights at the arena; and a $1 million Kings donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities.

AEG also brought back Anheuser-Busch, another original founding-level sponsor, for rights to the arena, L.A. Live and the Kings.

“For our 260 events a year, it’s been really valuable real estate for all their brands,” said Russell Silvers, senior vice president of partnership activation at AEG Global Partnerships.

The official alcohol/malt beverage of L.A. Live will run six 30-second ads per hour over 20 hours per day on the LED system across the L.A. Live complex, along with signage in parking garages and other structures.

Bud Light will be a presenting sponsor of the Club Nokia theater, which includes branding on all tickets. At the Staples Center, A-B’s inventory includes two freeway marquee signs visible to drivers along adjacent highways, LED rotational signage on the upper scoreboard, and signage on all upper concourses during Lakers, Kings, Clippers and Sparks games.

The deal with new founding-level partner Toshiba grew out of a lighting upgrade in the Staples Center garage, according to Nick Baker, senior vice president of sales at AEG Global Partnerships. Its rights include digital TVs, which will be featured across many of the buildings. A new main concourse attraction within Staples Center will serve as “both a social media destination and a place for fans to interact with Toshiba’s product line,” Baker added.

Nike will continue with its Nike Vault retail location, in-arena signage and title and as sponsor of a 3-on-3 summer basketball tournament, held in and around L.A. Live.

The deals were handled by Silvers and Baker at AEG Global Partnerships.

“Our mantra,” Baker said, “is that the renewal process starts at the signature party for the first deal. These results show we’re serious about that.”

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