New Orleans Saints Receive Superdome Sponsorship Bid from Porn Website
For the last decade, the New Orleans Saints have played there. It’s home to the Sugar Bowl every year and this year hosted the college football national championship. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is synonymous with high-quality NFL and college football. The same quality associated with the German carmaker. With the vehicle’s stadium sponsorship ending after 2021, one company has jumped to the front of the line expressing its interest in the naming rights, and that has turned more than a few heads.
New Orleans Saints Superdome losing Mercedes-Benz sponsorship
This week Mercedes-Benz announced after 10 years it would not be renewing its contract with the New Orleans Saints Superdome, which has hosted seven Super Bowls, the most recent in 2013. Instead, the company would be focusing its sponsorship efforts on the New Orleans Saints’ NFC rival Atlanta Falcons and its Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which opened in 2017.
It’s been an awkward situation for the last three years with the luxury vehicle company’s name on both stadiums of the rival teams within the NFC South division. In addition to the Falcons, Atlanta’s MLS team, Atlanta United FC, plays in the same building.
Mercedes-Benz also acknowledged it would honor its contract through July 2021. The company said it understood the Saints must look to the future of the stadium. A Saints spokesman told Nola.com the process is already underway.
Stripchat pitches to sponsor stadium
With the New Orleans Saints’ stadium-naming rights open to bidders, the adult website Stripchat, which claims to be “one of the world’s leading adult webcam sites,” expressed its interest in the sponsorship. The company is offering $15 million. The company said in its bid:
“In our opinion, New Orleans is the party capital of the United States. It’s always been synonymous with nightlife and entertainment. It comes alive at night, with people wandering the neon-hued promenade of one the most famous nightlife strips in the world – Bourbon Street.
“I’d like to think that we here at Stripchat embody some of New Orleans’ character and flair. As one of the world’s leading adult webcam sites that averages over 60 million visitors per month, we know a thing or two about having a good time. We have been looking into penetrating the sports world and think this is a wonderful opportunity to do so by announcing a bid of up to $15,000,000 for the naming rights to the Superdome.”
Mercedes-Benz reportedly paid between $50-$60 million for the naming rights in 2011.
BangBros pursued arena sponsor with Miami Heat
Stripchat’s offer isn’t the first time a porn-production company has shown interest in spreading its brand message through a sports venue. In 2019, Miami-based porn production company BangBros made similar headlines when it offered $10 million to sponsor American Airlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat, which had an agreement with the airline that expired in December.
The offer was never accepted, the Miami Heat never found a sponsor, and the arena remains known as American Airlines Arena while Miami-Dade County searches for a new naming-rights partner. Before the venue’s opening in 1999, the original naming-rights deal with the airline totaled $2.1 million annually as part of a 20-year sponsorship.
While both stadium sponsorships are worth millions, the Miami arena pales in comparison to an iconic stadium like the Superdome, which is currently undergoing a $450-million renovation and will host the Final Four in 2022 and Super Bowl in 2024.
In these tough financial times, the New Orleans Saints might find themselves in a case similar to the Miami arena with limited to no options. If that turns out to be the case, the organization might be willing to listen to all offers and possibly add a little spice to The Big Easy.
