The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority "approved the naming rights deal" with Overstock.com yesterday, giving the 47-year-old stadium shared by the Raiders and A's its fourth name, according to Rosynsky & Woodall of the OAKLAND TRIBUNE. The deal, which renames the facility Overstock.com Coliseum, is worth "about $1.2 million a year for the next six years." It includes a 3% increase each year that "would bring the total value of the contract to $7.5 million." Oakland and Alameda County "will receive half of the proceeds from the contract and the Raiders will get the other half." Both the A's and Raiders' leases expire in '13, and Overstock.com has a "provision in its naming rights deal allowing the company to opt out" of the agreement should either team leave the stadium. Overstock.com will have the "right to change signs throughout the Coliseum," and the company's moniker "will be displayed on the Coliseum's website, on its official stationary, and on the jackets or name tags of employees." The company is in the "process of re-branding itself as O.co," and it "has the right to change the Coliseum's name to the O.co Coliseum at any time" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 4/28). In Salt Lake City, Steven Oberbeck notes the deal is "effective immediately, with the facility hosting its first game under the new name" when the A’s play the Rangers on Friday. Overstock.com President Jonathan Johnson said, "This is one of only two stadiums in the country hosting two major league teams. With two teams playing there, it should give us a fair amount of national attention." Johnson said that the Coliseum Authority "approached Overstock in March" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 4/28). Premier Partnerships Managing Dir Jeff Marks, whose company brokered the naming-rights deal, said, "Overstock is buying the rights because the Bay Area is a very influential market for online buyers." Premier estimated that the Overstock.com name "will make 1.3 billion impressions annually by being seen from freeways and on billboards, mentioned in the news media and seen on stadium signage" (NYTIMES.com, 4/27).
NAME BLAME: YAHOO SPORTS' Chris Chase wrote, "Other than the brief reign of Land Shark Stadium, the NFL has largely avoided the rash of absurdly named arenas that have plagued other sports." But Overstock.com Coliseum is "set to change that" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 4/27). In Sacramento, Joe Davidson writes, "That's current-day advertising and financial survival for you." You "just know if the Raiders sag out of the gates, the punch lines will follow" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 4/28).
