Brands Spend Nearly $900 Million On Venue Naming Rights In U.S.

The push to name venues and get a healthy payday for it isn’t slowing down. A new report from SponsorUnited says that brands spend nearly $900 million annually across seven major United States professional leagues in growing venue naming rights deals.

“Venue naming rights continue to be one of the most influential economic engines in sports,” Schafer Chulay, director of marketing research and insights at SponsorUnited, tells me, adding that he expects to see up to 10 new venue naming rights deals added to the docket across the WNBA and NWSL.

The financial sector offers a clear leader in areas clamoring for the rights deals, but Chulay says that “emerging naming rights deals are likely led by cutting-edge brands in clean tech, mobility and healthcare innovation.”

With $891 million in revenue annually across seven major sports leagues, each league is anchored by a standout partnership that helps define its presence, such as SoFi in the NFL, Intuit in the NBA and Citi in MLB.

Financial brands spend a combined $400-plus million, with traditional banking brands accounting for more than half of the deals, while investment services are second in the sector. Insurance, auto and telecom follow as the next largest contributors. Within these groups, life and health and property and casualty insurers and non-U.S. automakers lead the way. Financial outpaces the insurance, the second-biggest spender, four-to-one.

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Chulay says that while finance is the main player in the space, the top-growing sectors based on year over year spend growth include construction and industrial, transportation and retail.

According to the SponsorUnited data, the top five brands based on annual spend each year are Crypto.com, Citi, SoFi, Intuit and JPMorgan Chase. AT&T, Mercedes-Benz, Scotiabank, Barclays and UBS round out the top 10.

In terms of leagues, the NFL has the most expensive portfolio, with the average deal size nearly $10 million annually. SoFi’s partnership with the stadium in Inglewood outside of Los Angeles tops $20 million. The NBA’s portfolio is second (Intuit’s Inglewood spend leads the league at just over $20 million per year), the NHL is close behind in third (Crypto.com’s roughly $30 million spend in Los Angeles was attributed to the NHL and is the largest spender in sports naming rights deals) and MLB keeps pace with Citi’s spend in New York as the second-largest deal in sports.

While the NFL leads, Chulay says new NHL and NBA deals are demanding more aggressive percentage increases. He cites the Minnesota Wild’s new 14-year deal with Grand Casino and United Wholesale Mortgage’s new deal in Phoenix as examples.

Chulay says the NWSL represents an interesting league to follow, with naming rights deals averaging less than $2 million, giving brands an opportunity in the venue space they wouldn’t have in more established leagues.

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The Los Angeles area leads the way in the venue naming rights world, with the region demanding three of the four largest deals. With the second-largest media market in the U.S. (only smaller than New York), Chulay says brands have “extraordinary visibility and brand exposure potential.” There was also an added premium when SoFi and Intuit came to terms on deals since they were the debut sponsors on brand-new venues.

The crowded Los Angeles spaces—12 teams in major professional leagues, Crypto.com hosting three teams, SoFi hosting two teams and one of only two U.S. markets with two teams in each of the four major leagues—“offers unparalleled sports marketing opportunities.”

Global events such as the 2026 World Cup, 2027 Super Bowl and 2028 L.A. Olympics may have played a factor too, although naming rights deals surrounding those events are sometimes treated uniquely.

Even across the seven major sports leagues, 21 venues remain unsold, often because teams don’t have the rights to do so. MLB has 37% of venues unsold—in part, thanks to historic sites such as Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and Dodger Stadium—whereas the NHL has only one venue without a naming rights deal.

Of the deals in place, four in five have been active for at least five years, “a good indicator of deal longevity, since certain contract terms aren’t publicly disclosed.”

Moving forward, Chulay says to expect new deals to feature more digital- and tech-focused integrations and clean tech, mobility and healthcare innovation could lead the way, “sectors that are scaling rapidly, competing for cultural relevance and seeking platforms that reinforce long-term narratives around sustainability, access and well-being.”