ST. PETERSBURG — The name on the outside of the Mahaffey Theater isn’t changing, but the names of nearly everything inside and around it is up for sale.
5 Months Ago
3 Months Ago
5 Months Ago
St. Petersburg City Council members heard the details of a plan on Feb. 2 to sell naming rights to a dozen spaces on the 98,000-square-foot performing arts venue.
For $100,000 a year for five years, a company could hang its moniker on the theater’s 2,000-seat main hall.
Too steep a price? Naming rights for the art gallery are a mere $5,000 a year.
Last year, the city signed a new five-year agreement with Big 3 Entertainment, a management company owned by Bill Edwards, to manage the Mahaffey. Edwards is a Treasure Island businessman who owns the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Unlike the previous deal, the new agreement doesn’t offer a direct city subsidy to cover the venue’s operating deficit, which averaged $663,000 the previous five years.
To close that financial gap, Big 3 obtained the right to seek revenue from naming rights.
The first $250,000 will go to Big 3, the city will receive the next $75,000 and the two entities split any revenue above $325,000.
The City Council has final approval over the naming rights. Big 3 has already identified 350 companies and corporations it will pursue, said Joseph Jimenez, managing director of the Edwards Group.
Now comes the pitch to persuade them to start writing checks.
"We tell the story of why their company, their association, will benefit by being part of this great waterfront downtown asset," Jimenez said.
Big 3 developed its plan after studying performing arts centers and sports stadiums in similar markets, he said.
"Obviously, there are no two markets that are alike," Jimenez told the City Council. "But this gave us a good benchmark on how to go about it and how to assign fees and timelines to the assets that are most requested and most valuable."
An average of 210,000 people a year walked through the doors of the Mahaffey over the past four years. That’s a lot of eyeballs found lingering at the line at the box office ($50,000) or at the parking garage ($75,000).
Big 3’s market study showed that both spots are highly coveted, Jimenez said.
If all of the proposed naming rights sell, it would net the city nearly $100,000 year.
That will help offset some of the city’s continuing costs. Big 3 receives $250,000 in yearly management fees and as well as a $15,000 incentive fee each time a top act is lured to the theater. Those incentives are capped at $150,000 a year. The city is also responsible for up to $400,000 a year in capital improvements.
Contact Charlie Frago at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727)893-8459. Follow@CharlieFrago.
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