As the pandemic continues to rock the sports business, especially the sponsorship market, Swiss investment bank UBS thought it still was the right time to lock into its $350M-plus naming-rights deal with Oak View Group for the Islanders' new Belmont Park arena. It is the largest such deal to date for a standalone NHL arena. UBS sees the deal as an opportunity to show its commitment to N.Y. and its North American business. And for OVG, the deal could open the doors to UBS' high-end clients who may want to invest in the company's future arena and stadium projects in the U.S. and throughout the world. "When OVG said 'You know, look our business is going and doing these big stadium arrangements and running the stadium,' it just became clear that if there's more to come, let's have a look," UBS Group CMO Johan Jervoe said. While the 20-year pact includes many of the typical premium elements for UBS to entertain clients at Belmont, it also includes marketing opportunities to amplify its brand through traditional media channels, social media and any future media distribution platforms. "It's a multiple year deal that includes all channels, both the ones we know of today and then ones we don't know of today," Jervoe said. "And when you look at the location, when the planes are up flying again, you will have 55,000 planes flying over that stadium every year. If you look at the top shot of the arena from above, you'll see the branding is extremely prominent, but also, you know it's clearly a premium location and a premium branding."
Meanwhile, in this week's SBJ Forum, Abe Madkour takes a look at the ambition of OVG CEO Tim Leiweke.
