American Airlines To See Big Payoff When Dallas Arena Opens

American Airlines Center will announce today that Austin-based Dell Computer will provide the arena with $500,000 worth of servers and desktop computers, according to the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The PowerEdge servers will manage the arena's lighting, ticketing security and other services. The Optiplex computers will bring Internet access to the facility's offices and 142 luxury suites (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/24). In Ft. Worth, Mitchell Schnurman wrote that as part of its 30-year, $195M naming-rights deal, American Airlines' name will be "emblazoned throughout" the new downtown Dallas arena. Schnurman noted the company's logo will "dominate the signs" around the scoreboard, will have a "prominent place" on the Stars' and Mavs' playing surfaces and will even be stamped on the stainless-steel urinal flushers. Schnurman wrote with the deal, American Airlines will "enjoy a kind of PR" that "must stretch the imagination of marketers." American Airlines' parent company AMR spokesperson Al Becker said, "This deal transcends the direct marketing benefits. In our mind, there's no question that this is money well-spent." With more than 30,000 workers in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, American Airlines hopes the arena sponsorship "boosts employee morale by linking the company with a hot signature project." Becker added that American Airlines also wants to "engender some goodwill" in the community by "demonstrating its commitment to the area" (STAR-TELEGRAM, 7/22). In Dallas, Barry Horn noted American Airlines model planes are being prepared for hanging in the arena's lobby (DMN, 7/21).

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