What’s in a Name?

At press time, the Chicago White Sox were one of the hottest teams in baseball, just two games behind the fading Kansas City Royals in the race for the American League central division pennant. And that’s great news for Chicago-based wireless carrier U.S. Cellular, which in February 2003 announced a $68 million, 20-year naming rights deal with White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf that resulted in the team’s longtime home Comiskey Park beginning this season as U.S. Cellular Field.

Not only are the Sox surging, but the ballpark in question recently played host to baseball’s annual All-Star Game, guaranteeing widespread media exposure for the U.S. Cellular brand. All told, the carrier is quite happy with the deal so far, according to Jay Ellison, U.S. Cellular’s executive vice president, operations.

“We’re extremely ecstatic--we’ve built a great relationship in moving this partnership forward,” Ellison said, noting that work on rebranding the park is now 90% to 95% complete. “We’re also working together well to develop other marketing opportunities. Now, people know who U.S. Cellular is--that’s a key part of our plan.”

There were obvious risks involved, however. Chicago is not only a great sports town, but its legions of diehard fans are also fierce traditionalists. Comiskey Park took its name from longtime franchise owner Charles A. Comiskey, and while the Sox only moved into their current home in 1991, their previous stadium, also called Comiskey Park, was a Chicago landmark from 1910 to 1990. U.S. Cellular did not go into the naming rights deal without taking into account the inevitable fan backlash.

“There has been some negative reaction,” Ellison admitted. “We anticipated that--we did market research, and it predicted a negative response from some loyal fans. But then we took the research down a couple notches, and found that if naming rights dollars are earmarked to improve the fan experience, it turns the reaction to positive.” And with a significant chunk of the $68 million agreement targeted for stadium renovations, Ellison said Sox fans would be pleased by coming improvements. “A lot of our plans have not been revealed to the general public yet,” he said. “Also, if it’s a hometown company--somebody in the market who employs some of the fans--then the rest of the fans react much more positively.”

Ellison said that the recent All-Star Game--and the international exposure that U.S. Cellular Field earned as a result--played no role in the carrier’s decision to cut the naming rights deal. “This is about getting our brand name introduced in Chicago,” Ellison said. “You can do a lot with the general media, but baseball is discussed in this city 365 days a year. So on a cost-to-value ratio, we’re getting much more back on the dollar.”

Ultimately, the merger of baseball and wireless may yield tangible dividends rare in naming rights deals between pro sports and other segments of industry. Case in point: This summer, a number of ballparks in both the minor and major leagues are experimenting with deploying wireless networks to allow ticket holders to order food, beverages and souvenirs from the comfort of their seats. While U.S. Cellular Field is not yet home to such wireless amenities, Ellison said the carrier is working to unwire and enhance the fan experience.

“We can become a communications center for fans,” he theorized. “We could use text messaging to send emergency calls, or put an emergency message on the scoreboard--those are some of the discussions. You could also order food from your seat, for example. There could also be real-time, interactive games like trivia, quizzes or guessing the next pitch--they would allow you to get interactive with the game as it’s going on. We can take the whole fan experience up another level.”