The T's naming rights deal

The company hired to sell the naming rights for MBTA assets will pocket 12 percent of whatever revenue it brings in.

The T’s contract with IMG Worldwide Inc., best known for its representation of professional athletes, calls for the New York company to first submit a marketing and implementation plan. Once the T approves the plan, IMG could then begin selling naming rights. IMG’s contract with the T runs for two years; the company recently signed similar deals with the Chicago Transit Board and Capital Metro in Austin, Texas.

Like many transit authorities across the country, the T is struggling to close a budget deficit. The agency said this week it needs to raise fares and pare back service to erase the $161 deficit, but it is also exploring ways to bring in new revenue. Selling naming rights is one option (others include selling ads on the T’s website and hawking T merchandise online), but some are objecting to the commercialization of public spaces.

Commercial Alert, an offshoot of the Washington-based consumer protection organization Public Citizen, recently sent a letter to Richard Davey, the Massachusetts secretary of transportation, urging him to block the naming rights project.

“Not everything should be for sale,” wrote Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, “Please help us to stop the spread of commercialism into more of our public spaces.”

But Davey is pushing ahead. The IMG contract calls for the firm to examine the suitability of selling naming rights to subway, commuter rail, commuter boat, and bus lines as well as transit stations, the T’s website, and its informational materials.

It’s unclear how much revenue the sale of naming rights could bring in. The MBTA tried unsuccessfully in 2001 to sell the naming rights to the Back Bay, Downtown Crossing, South Station, and Sullivan Square subway stops. Weissman of Public Citizen said he doubts the sale of naming rights would make a dent in the T’s deficit.

Elsewhere, the sale of naming rights has had limited success, although the process is still in its infancy. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority last year signed a five-year, $5 million contract to rename a busy Philadelphia subway stop as AT&T Station. In New York, Barclay’s is paying $200,000 a year to put its name on a metro station.

Homepage photo by Josh Kaufman photography  published under a Creative Commons license.