Mercedes-Benz' 10-year naming-rights deal for the Superdome is "worth between $50 million and $60 million" and "will eliminate the possibility" of the state of Louisiana paying direct subsidies to the Saints, according to sources cited by Nakia Hogan of the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. A few years ago, Mercedes-Benz was "not in the market to be a naming-rights partner for an NFL stadium," but the "allure of grabbing some spotlight and potential customers that the NFL brings, as well as being part of the Gulf South’s rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina" changed Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Ernst Lieb’s mind. Lieb: “I don’t think three or four years ago Mercedes-Benz would have thought about going into a relationship like this.” That changed “after an innocent suggestion by Gayle Benson, the wife of Saints owner Tom Benson, that the NFL franchise consider selling the stadium’s naming rights to the automaker.” Lieb: “Within the U.S. organization it was a very easy sale, to be quite honest. But with a deal like this we have to go [to] Germany, and we have to have certain approvals there. That was a little bit more difficult. That was a hurdle, but we took it." Mercedes-Benz execs see the deal “as a solid investment, one that can pay huge dividends considering the amount of exposure the iconic stadium will receive as it hosts three national sporting events in the next 16 months: January's BCS championship game, April's men's Final Four, and the Super Bowl in February 2013.” The high-profile events “and the success and stature of the building's primary tenant -- the Saints -- are expected to help the marketability of Mercedes-Benz.” Superdome, Saints and state officials said that “the new name at the stadium is already in place, although it still requires state legislative approval, which is expected to be a mere formality.” Plans call for the automaker's name to be "prominently displayed at each of the main entrances into the stadium, outside the parking garage, at Champions Square, atop the scoreboard, on the stadium's marquee on Poydras Street and hanging from the rafters in the middle of the building." There have also been talks of “putting the company's name or star logo on the stadium's roof” (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 10/5).
