Whit Babcock on with Mo Egger at 5:00 pm today

[bctn8n]

The big brands I would go after are Western-Southern, Johnson & Johnson, and Macy's.

Maybe Rumpke can sponsor the old 5/3 arena and call it "the dump."

Johnson and Johnson already donates to Rutgers. JNJ's corporate headquarters is right next to RU.

[Rational Cat]

This year had an unsual number of lesser quality opponents because of the West Virginia departure from the Big East which screwed up the Ohio State matchup as well (from what I hear from OSU fans though I'm certain it would have been reschedule/postponed anyway). And from what I hear in the media there aren't a whole lot of teams banging on UC's door to play in Nippert and give up their revenue at home. This is one reason Ohio State bought out the 2012 matchup - they make way too much money at $70/ticket X 100,000 fans per game at Ohio Stadium. UC's best alternative is PBS and they have to pay Mike Brown for its use. It's just a crummy situation and makes one wonder if this isn't a chicken-or-the-egg situation. In order for fans to show up you say we need more high profile opponents but in order to attract high profile opponents we need better facilities and vice versa. I don't see UC justifying an expansion or new construction when they don't sell out Nippert as is. So which comes first? I don't have that answer.

As for mens bball, the schedule so far this year is much better than last year at this point in the season. I hope last year was an aberation but still, not a lot of teams want to come into The Shoe and risk a loss for many of the reason Bearcat Otto said. Would I love to see it? You bet. But I just don't see the likes of UK, IU, or Duke traveling to UC for a non-conference game. Entering a tournament is the best bet we have at getting a shot at a high profile team.



Is your last paragraph a hypothetical or are those specifically the corporate sponsors you would target? I ask because P&G isn't going to put their name on any UC facilities; they're a consumer products global brand. They historically have not sold the parent company so much as they have sold their individual brands such as Old Spice (Nascar), Tide (Nascar), Crest, Charmin, Pampers etc. There are millions of people that don't associate these brands with P&G, they just know the brands themselves and associate them with quality. I don't see P&G viewing "P&G field" as a good return on investment in a local market when they are a global company. Also factor in Nippert Stadium is named after P&G heir Jimmy Nippert and I don't see P&G upsetting that legacy. Maybe another corporation might challenge the naming rights but not P&G themselves. Add to it sports is male dominated and women tend to be the buyers of P&G's household products.

Kroger, on the other hand, might see a benefit to local exposure and has always been my top target when I pontificate about this topic. I also wonder how the naming rights might conflict with loyalty clauses because banks would be an ideal target for naming rights. 5/3 already sponsors the bball arena but would it violate any agreements for UC to accept naming rights for other facilities from Huntington or Key Bank which are both Ohio banks with a local presence? Fidelity has large operations in Northern Kentucky and is in a service based industry where brand awareness matters. But again, as a national company how willing are they to sponsor something largely local eyeballs are going to see? Western & Southern as well as Cincinnati Financial also fit the mold of largely local or regional and benefitting from name awareness though I question if the latter is large enough to fork over the cash necessary for naming rights. Maybe UDF is one that might work?

I think in the end the national audience is not large enough to warrant a national firm slapping their name on a building and the truly local or regional players that would benefit are already involved (5/3) or don't have the cash flow to pull it off. Perhaps this is a project for marketing students or MBA students presently enrolled at UC - to increase the corporate involvement with UC athletics?

Very informative post, and thank you for doing it.

My last paragraph was just a hypothetical. You obviously are much more in touch with the marketing and advertising aspect of this than am I.

[fordct]

Here's a list of Fortune 1000 Companies in the Greater Cincinnati:

Kroger
Procter & Gamble
Macy's
Fifth Third Bancorp
Ashland
AK Steel Holding
Omnicare
Western & Southern Financial Group
American Financial Group
General Cable Corporation
Cincinnati Financial
Cintas (XAVIER)
Convergys
E. W. Scripps

** Whit needs to give them a reason to have a substantial interest in Bearcat Athletics!

[shadyo]

Very informative post, and thank you for doing it.

My last paragraph was just a hypothetical. You obviously are much more in touch with the marketing and advertising aspect of this than am I.

Doubtful that Kroger would buy naming rights as those funds are allocated at a divisional level and the feeling is they are better off being everywhere so Kroger will sponsor every athletic program in the city at some level. Kroger did have an Indy car several years ago and that initiative was funded by P&G. There may be an opportunity to get the two companies to partner in some way.

[Bearcat1996]

I have lots of ideas...not good ones though.

The only space on or near campus that probably could not even handle room for a new FB stadium is Sigma Sigma Commons.

That area combined with the area that is the parking garage and the three (now two) high rise residence halls might be big enough. But, they are in the process of remodeling one tower and I assume the second is to follow.

I agree, not too good. I am talking about a new basketball stadium, not football. Nippert can be fixed and improved at a much lower cost than building new. The amount of space required to build a football stadium would be too big a challenge.

[cpawstoney]

I think in the end the national audience is not large enough to warrant a national firm slapping their name on a building and the truly local or regional players that would benefit are already involved (5/3) or don't have the cash flow to pull it off. Perhaps this is a project for marketing students or MBA students presently enrolled at UC - to increase the corporate involvement with UC athletics?

How about 3CDC?

[mjv780]

Well, obviously, if we're talking about scrapping the basketball arena and it's only 20 some years old, the people who designed it were terrible at thinking ahead... how about throwing the design work for a new one to a firm which employs multiple UC architecture graduates?

Ahem... my information is in my profile, in case anyone who has any sway in the matter is reading this... haha.

[Bearcat1996]

Cintas ponied up for naming rights and they are most certainly a national company. The Cintas Center would cost around $60,000,000 if built today. I would think a budget of $100,000,000, you could build a very nice arena. Easy for me to say...

[WW2UC]

If I remember correctly isn't Kroger the second largest retailer in the US behind Wal-Mart? Though some of it would be under other names like Fred Meyer and Ralph's. But I don't think it's hard to imagine it being beneficial that every time UC were to play on ESPN the something like "live from Kroger Field" or "live from Kroger Arena" wouldn't have a marketing benefit.

Heck, in regards to P&G, they already sponsors the Patriots stadium under the Gillete brand ... though that was probably arrranged before the aquisition.

[fordct]

With all the Fortune 1000 companies in the Greater Cincinnati area, there has to be one who wants to step up to the plate:

Fortune 1000 Companies in Greater Cincinnati:

Kroger
Procter & Gamble
Macy's
Fifth Third Bancorp
Ashland
AK Steel Holding
Omnicare
Western & Southern Financial Group
American Financial Group
General Cable Corporation
Cincinnati Financial
Cintas(Xavier)
Convergys
E. W. Scripps

[bobestes]

With all the Fortune 1000 companies in the Greater Cincinnati area, there has to be one who wants to step up to the plate:

Fortune 1000 Companies in Greater Cincinnati:

Kroger
Procter & Gamble
Macy's
Fifth Third Bancorp
Ashland
AK Steel Holding
Omnicare
Western & Southern Financial Group
American Financial Group
General Cable Corporation
Cincinnati Financial
Cintas(Xavier)
Convergys
E. W. Scripps

There is an enormous difference between "fortune 500 company" and "rich dude who wants to blow his money on college sports"

P&G is a fortune 500 company that would face a shareholder revolt if they spent $100 million on a football stadium for the University of Cincinnati. Seriously.

Whereas, John Schnatter (Papa John) has absolutely no qualms about draining his personal savings in the quest of providing the University of Louisville with totally awesome athletic facilities.

Cincinnati's "rich dudes" have historically been the likes of the Lindner family and Nipperts, who would rather drain their savings on silly things like education and the arts, instead of sports.

At the end of the day, the issue probably has more to do with the fact that the only philantropist in town that is into big time college sports is Larry Sheakley.

[bobestes]

And Larry Sheakley is not really a "totally rich dude" when compared to the likes of the Lindners, even.

[Binturong05]

How about 3CDC?

Not sure what this is. Please explain

If I remember correctly isn't Kroger the second largest retailer in the US behind Wal-Mart? Though some of it would be under other names like Fred Meyer and Ralph's. But I don't think it's hard to imagine it being beneficial that every time UC were to play on ESPN the something like "live from Kroger Field" or "live from Kroger Arena" wouldn't have a marketing benefit.

Heck, in regards to P&G, they already sponsors the Patriots stadium under the Gillete brand ... though that was probably arrranged before the aquisition.

Second largest grocer as opposed to retailer. In that regard you are correct, and at one point Kroger was the largest grocer until Wal-Mart entered the business. Personally I like the idea of Kroger defending their home turf with Giant Eagle and other competition creaping in. And I think from a product standpoint Kroger makes the most sense of the Cincinnati-based companies. Everyone takes trips to the grocery store so even though men are the bulk of the audience for football Kroger could advertise steaks, burgers, beer specials, etc. and drive traffic to their stores.

[Brian H.]

Not sure what this is. Please explain



Second largest grocer as opposed to retailer. In that regard you are correct, and at one point Kroger was the largest grocer until Wal-Mart entered the business. Personally I like the idea of Kroger defending their home turf with Giant Eagle and other competition creaping in. And I think from a product standpoint Kroger makes the most sense of the Cincinnati-based companies. Everyone takes trips to the grocery store so even though men are the bulk of the audience for football Kroger could advertise steaks, burgers, beer specials, etc. and drive traffic to their stores.

Actually he was right the first time. Kroger is the largest grocer and second largest retailer. Either way, like someone said earlier Kroger spreads their sponsorship dollars around. They don't go for big flashy naming rights and none of the top execs have ties to UC so there is not anyone to champion UC. None of Kroger's top execs are even from this area.

[Binturong05]

Actually he was right the first time. Kroger is the largest grocer and second largest retailer. Either way, like someone said earlier Kroger spreads their sponsorship dollars around. They don't go for big flashy naming rights and none of the top execs have ties to UC so there is not anyone to champion UC. None of Kroger's top execs are even from this area.

I don't want to hijack this thread but it's a flaw of mine in that I lack the ability to walk away from a dispute over data/info. I work in investments and Kroger is regularly referred to as the second largest grocery chain in America behind Wal-Mart.

http://www.newsoxy.com/business/larg...010-14385.html

http://business.highbeam.com/4122/ar...ow-trail-world


Now either way, they've got some bucks and it's a competitive industry where brand awareness could drive foot traffic particularly if people associated tailgating or even plunking down in front of the big screen with Kroger. Football is universally linked with eating and drinking in American culture. If you need steaks, hotdogs, brats, mets, chips, beer, napkins, plastic forks and spoons, hot sauce and any other myriad of items associated with tailgating and football parties wouldn't Kroger want people to think of them first? There are few better ways than to name the stadium after the company. Of all the options listed I think Kroger is the best choice in pursuing a corporate sponsor.