Seahawks
Stadium's name change is official

By Greg Bishop
Seattle Times staff reporter

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The stadium formerly known as Seahawks officially became Qwest Field yesterday, courtesy of an approving nod from the Washington State Public Stadium Authority.

At a meeting that lasted a little under an hour inside the stadium, the PSA unanimously voted to approve Resolution 160, granting naming rights for the stadium and adjoining exhibition center to the Denver-based telecommunications company.

"This was always about more than putting a name on a stadium," Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke said afterward. "This clears the last hurdle. It's now about making the partnership work."

Now, after weeks of consulting and planning and debate, the manual work begins. And once it's done, fans can expect a slightly different look next season.

The larger-than-life blue letters that spell "Seahawks Stadium" on the roof of the stadium will be replaced, along with all other signage under the previous name. First & Goal Inc., the company that manages the stadium and exhibition center, also will add a wall inside the stadium adorned with 338 helmets from every high-school team across the state, part of several planned community-service projects between the Seahawks and Qwest.

Leiweke didn't indicate how long the projects will take to complete, but he did say when they'd start — immediately.

"There's a lot of work to be done now," Leiweke said. "Our first game is not that many days away, and we're counting them. Immediately after this meeting, we begin working on activation and getting ready for the season."

The parties reached an agreement worth a little more than $75 million over 15 years. It starts with a $4 million payment in 2004, and payments increase by 2.8 percent annually during the first 10 years. After the 10th year, in 2014, there is one five-year option to renew and a 10 percent payment increase, followed by 2.8 percent increases in each of the last four years.

Of that money, roughly 42.5 percent goes into a PSA-supervised fund for maintenance and modernization. The board clarified the maintenance portion during its meeting yesterday. It doesn't involve what the board called "routine maintenance," but does involve larger projects. The PSA approves use of the fund.

Lorraine Hine, chairwoman of the board, pointed to tiles falling from the Kingdome roof as an example of a maintenance project. Money from the PSA naming rights fund could be used for repairs like those, if approved.
 
The annual average overall payment is $5,017,807, including the annual naming rights payment of $2,132,568.

"In spite of the fact that the market is not as great now for naming rights, we got a very strong deal," Hine said. "This way we can maintain the public's investment. That's our job."

Indeed, the deal does compare favorably with others across the NFL, according to a 41-page evaluation by PSA consultant Dan Barrett of Barrett Sports Group.

The public sector garners revenue from naming rights in seven of the 31 NFL stadiums. Only Denver's would receive more money next year (about $2.2 million) than Seattle's. The agreement also compares favorably to naming-rights agreements for Safeco Field and KeyArena.

In exchange for that chunk of change, Qwest gets what marketing folks like to call "brand-name awareness." It's all about constant bombardment of the brand, from signage to television and radio broadcasts, the Web site and everything in between.

Standing in a hallway outside the PSA conference room, executive director Ann Kawasaki looked a mixture of happiness and relief. She couldn't estimate how many hours her board spent on the resolution in the past month, but she nodded when asked if the process was all-consuming.

"We're very pleased with the result," she said.

Greg Bishop: 206-464-3191 or gbishop@seattletimes.com