David Samson doesn’t sound pleased with the decision by the Miami Dolphins to sell naming rights to Dolphin Stadium to Anheuser-Busch in a short-term deal.Dolphin Stadium will be rebranded as LandShark Stadium for the near future, as the Miami Dolphins cut a short-term deal with Anheuser-Busch to name the facility after LandShark Lager, a brand promoted by singer Jimmy Buffett. As part of the deal, Buffett will perform two concerts at the stadium and work to build a Margaritaville section within.
It’s also a short-term deal, running through next year, when the stadium hosts the next Super Bowl. MillerCoors, which hold pouring rights to the Super Bowl as part of its NFL sponsorship deal, reportedly objected to a competing brand holding sponsorship rights to its biggest promotional event of the year.
Which means the Dolphins and the Florida Marlins will go through a lot of work on the rebranding of the facility. For the Dolphins, who will actually make the money on the deal, it’s worth the pain, especially with the team in the offseason. For the Marlins, the pain is more immediate: the team’s promotional materials and advertising must be changed to reflect the new name. And Marlins President David Samson doesn’t sound too pleased.
"We got a memo to say that the Marlins now play in LandShark Stadium," he told MLB.com. "So you are looking live at LandShark Stadium. So, we have to change all of our ads. We have to change all of our signage. We have to change all of our stationery."
Without seeing a dime of the revenue.
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