This third installment in our major assets report series examines the front-door brand engine of premium sports sponsorship—driving mass visibility, first impression, and long-term brand equity at scale. Across seven major U.S. pro leagues, major entryway or gate naming rights deals now attract more than $483M in annual brand investment, or roughly 18% of the total spend on major assets, including venue naming rights (40%), practice facilities (9%), gates, clubs/suites, and jersey patches (these last two assets types will be covered in forthcoming series reports).

Each partnership was evaluated only where entryway or gate naming rights served as the primary asset driver of the deal, ensuring the analysis focuses on investments centered around these entitlements.

Key Findings:

• Out of 280 sponsorship deals that include a major entryway or gate asset, 211 deals (75%) position the entryway as the primary featured asset. That concentration signals that brands increasingly view the gate as a primary entitlement asset rather than supplemental signage packaged into broader partnerships.
• When isolating only deals where the entryway is the main asset, total investment reaches $483M—over half of the $900M tied to all entryway-inclusive deals. This tells a clear investment story: capital is following prominence.
• Today’s most valuable gate deals extend well beyond naming rights into activation-driven storytelling. Brands are turning entryways into interactive brand environments—photo moments, digital zones, monuments, lounges, and service-oriented experiences.
• For brands, gate naming rights function as long-term brand infrastructure rather than short-term media. Multi-year deals shift sponsorship evaluation from impressions to sustained trust, consideration, and community relevance. This is especially valuable for healthcare, financial, and insurance brands where credibility compounds. Category exclusivity also delivers defensive value, positioning the sponsor as a committed community partner while locking competitors out of one of the venue’s most visible touchpoints.

This second installment in our major assets report series examines one of the fastest-advancing frontiers in sports sponsorship: practice facility naming rights (PFNR). Across six major U.S. pro leagues (excluding MLB due to the unique dynamics of spring training ownership and rights structures), PFNR deals now attract more than $300 million in annual brand investment, or roughly 9% of the total spend on major assets, including venue naming rights, practice facilities, gates, clubs/suites, and jersey patches.

Hospitals make up 70% of all healthcare naming-rights deals and contribute over 80% of the top-ranking category’s total investment. Practice facilities provide hospital systems with an authentic platform to link their brand to care, community, and high performance. Financial institutions like PNC Bank, BMO, and Fifth Third Bank use naming rights to deepen community roots and reinforce trust by aligning with the daily grind of teams they serve. Tech brands such as Oracle, IBM, SAP, and Salesforce are leveraging these assets to showcase innovation—embedding their platforms into training, analytics, and performance systems. Despite auto ranking among top sponsorship industry spenders, only Toyota and Ford invest in PFNRs—revealing untapped opportunity. The automakers activate locally, linking performance and mobility with community initiatives that keep facilities active year-round and build hometown loyalty.

As the practice facility market matures and unsold inventory tightens, deal values could rise sharply—especially as new categories compete for naming rights. With ~$100M in open annual potential and record deals like Etihad’s $11M benchmark, expect top-tier facilities to reach or exceed $20M annually by 2030, driven by tech and finance entrants seeking year-round visibility.

This new major assets report series spotlights five powerhouse assets across seven pro leagues that together account for $3.3B, or roughly 40% of all brand sponsorship spend. We’ll explore how spending in each area—including venue naming rights, practice facilities, gates, clubs/suites, and jersey patches—shapes today’s sponsorship economy and what’s ahead for brand marketers.

These figures reveal just how concentrated sponsorship spending has become—and how critical it is to understand where the dollars are going and why. Yet even with this level of investment on major assets, reliable, comprehensive data remains hard to find.

Brands spend $891M on Venue Naming Rights deals, a premium high-visibility asset, venue naming rights (VNR) continue to be an anchor of brand strategy and dominate spend across leagues.

• More than half (51%) of finance-led deals come from traditional banking brands. Fintech (10%) and investment services (12%) brands are increasingly using naming rights to boost trust and brand awareness.
• Financial is the top category, with Insurance, Auto, and Telecom following as the next biggest contributors. Within these groups, most activity is driven by Life & Health and Property & Casualty insurers, along with non-US automakers.
• Today’s naming rights investments go beyond logos on buildings, reflecting a pivot toward experiential branding. Sponsors such as AT&T and SoFi are not just buying signage; they are integrating technology, perks, and community programs into venues to enrich fan experiences.

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