The stadium being constructed in Cape Town for the FIFA World Cup in 2010 is now seeking a naming sponsor. The City of Cape Town has now put out a tender to the public for the 68 000 seater stadium in Greenpoint for the stadiums naming rights and a new long-term contract for operating the stadium. Construction of the stadium took a while to get going with many hurdles causing the delay of the stadium but now construction is in full swing and the stadium will be ready to host 8 games including a semi-final in the worlds biggest soccer event taking place in 2010.

The naming of stadiums and arenas is now big money. The model is largely prevalent in the USA with many of the major sporting stadiums being named after big business brands such as Delta and Air America. The most recent major naming sponsor for a stadium was when airliner, Emirates bought the naming rights of Arsenal’s new stadium in London and thus it is now subsequently known as the Emirates Stadium.

Businesses looking to get great exposure would seriously consider purchasing the naming rights for the stadium in Cape Town. Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and the stadium is built along the backdrop of Table Mountain and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. The stadium is going to be a major attraction during the 2010 world cup and even beyond then for sport and entertainment events.

One can only wonder how much the naming rights are going to cost as we suspect they will not come cheaply. Chances are that large corporations across the world such as Virgin, Vodafone or Microsoft may buy the naming rights. What would not be surprising is if an Arab business purchases the naming rights. There has been a lot of invest from the Middle East countries into Cape Town, mainly Dubai who are investing largely in the V&A Waterfront. Who knows we may have a second Emirates Stadium in Cape Town following the naming of Arsenal’s stadium. What would be nice, from a South African perspective, would be if a local company manages to purchases the naming rights for the stadium.

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