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Haynes: Blazers President Chris McGowan Sees Rose Garden Naming Rights Sold Within A Year

Portland Trail Blazers president Chris McGowan is optimistic that naming rights to the Rose Garden will be sold within a year.

By Ben Golliver
marshall.usc.edu

Back in October, Jason Quick of The Oregonian reported on Twitter that new Portland Trail Blazers president and CEO Chris McGowan was hoping to sell naming rights to the Rose Garden for $2.5 million a year.

Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports that McGowan has set a timetable for the move. Thanks to Roy Wonder in the FanShots.

"I'm always optimistic. I think it can be done in 12 months," McGowan told CSNNW.com. "There's a lot of potential partners out there. This is a good market, with a great fan base, and a first-class building. It's an attractive property for someone to put their name on. It's one of my top priorities."

Selling the naming rights to the arena, McGowan said, could omit the name "Rose Garden." Though, McGowan said it is soley contingent on the buyer on whether they choose to include it or not.

Former Blazers president Larry Miller said virtually the same thing back in 2007, as reported by Gordon Oliver of The Oregonian.

Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc., which owns both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Rose Garden Arena, said Wednesday it will sell the rights to name Portlands largest entertainment venue.

It's even possible the name Rose Garden will disappear from the side of the building, team president Larry Miller said. "We'll figure that out once we determine who the partner is," Miller said.

The deal could be worth several million dollars a year of additional revenue for the Blazers, based on reports of other stadium naming deals in markets of similar size to Portland.

...

"Definitely we think the timing is right for this," Miller said.

Back in 2011, the Portland Timbers of the MLS sold naming rights to PGE Park to Klamath Falls-based Jeld-Wen, a manufacturer of windows and doors. The Timbers also sold jersey-naming rights to Alaska Airlines back in 2010.

Lists of large Oregon companies or companies that employ many people in the state can be found at OregonBusiness.com (here) and JobBankUSA (here).

Here's a list of companies that currently have naming rights to NBA arenas. The list is dominated by banks, airlines, telecommunications and energy companies.

  • Atlanta -- Philips
  • Boston -- TD Bank
  • Brooklyn -- Barclays
  • Charlotte -- Time Warner Cable
  • Chicago -- United
  • Cleveland -- Quicken Loans
  • Dallas -- American Airlines
  • Denver -- Pepsi
  • Golden State -- Oracle
  • Houston -- Toyota
  • Indiana -- Bankers Life
  • Los Angeles (Clippers and Lakers) -- Staples
  • Memphis -- FedEx
  • Miami -- American Airlines
  • Milwaukee -- BMO Harris (usually just called the Bradley Center but officially "BMO Harris Bradley Center")
  • Minnesota -- Target
  • New York -- MSG (Madison Square Garden Company is a subsidiary of Cablevision that owns the arena and runs the Knicks)
  • Oklahoma City -- Chesapeake Energy
  • Orlando -- Amway
  • Philadelphia -- Wells Fargo
  • Phoenix -- US Airways
  • Sacramento -- Sleep Train
  • San Antonio -- AT&T
  • Toronto -- Air Canada
  • Utah -- Energy Solutions
  • Washington -- Verizon

The Hornets play in New Orleans Arena. The Detroit Pistons play in the Palace at Auburn Hills.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

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