Two new, local stadiums strike out on naming-rights deals

First, the Gwinnett Braves struck out on selling naming rights for their new stadium.

Now, the University of West Georgia reports a similar fruitless experience as its football team inaugurates a new stadium on campus this Saturday.

The Carrollton school is playing its first-ever football game on campus with the building of University Stadium, part of a $34 million, 250-acre athletics complex. The team previously played its home games at Carrollton High School.

But the recession has contributed to a decline in the number of companies willing to pay for naming-rights deals.

West Georgia spokesman Rob Douthit said companies are facing bottom-line challenges that don’t allow them to extend their marketing efforts to areas such as athletics facilities.

“Our efforts to find a naming-rights sponsor continue, and we are hopeful that as the economy improves a corporate sponsor will emerge,” Douthit said.

On the minor-league baseball front, Gwinnett County failed to secure a deal by Monday night’s deadline that would have given it all the proceeds above the first $350,000, AJC reporter Pat Fox wrote. Terms of the contract now call for the Atlanta Braves to receive the first $350,000, the county to receive the second $350,000, and for both to split anything above that level.

That assumes a sponsor can be found in this economy.