Friday, October 13, 2000
Advertisers pay for choice spots
XU getting double what it got for signage in Gardens
By Cliff Peale
The Cincinnati Enquirer
To Bob Sumerel Tire Co., a sign in the new Cintas Center at Xavier University is a major commitment.
The sign on the facade above the bottom seating bowl swallows a bulk of the tire retailer's annual marketing budget. Company officials are convinced it will be worth it.
They chose Cintas Center over more expensive options at Paul Brown Stadium or Cinergy Field.
“We thought it was a good way to get exposure, something we hadn't done before,” said Craig Sumerel, director of retail operations. “Because it's new, it definitely has great appeal and marketability.”
Bob Sumerel is one of 16 companies that have bought signs in the new on-campus arena. Twenty-two companies have leased luxury boxes.
One of those, Cintas Corp. in Mason, has its name on the building, thanks to generous contributions from its top officials.
For Xavier, the $46 million, privately financed building is a testament to its connections in the corporate community. For Firstar Center and Cincinnati Gardens, it could mean more competition, and for companies around Greater Cincinnati, it is yet anoth er chance to spread their name.
“We've told people, this is not just 14 men's basketball games a year,” said Greg Amodio, assistant athletic director for marketing at Xavier. “This is imaging for 365 days a year.”
Amodio said XU has met its revenue goals that will pay off debt on the building over 25 years. The financing includes:
• Private contributions: While the university has not identified how much Cintas CEO Bob Kohlhepp or the late Jack Schiff Sr. of Cincinnati Financial Corp. contributed, total contributions were $21 million.
The building includes the Schiff Family Conference Center.
• Premium Seating: The 22 “Founders Suites” bring in about $880,000 per year over 10 years. Revenue from the 1,000 club seats will total about $1 million per year, or $1,000 per seat. There also are about 4,000 other premium seats, with prices ranging from $100 to $500 per seat per year.
• Signs and sponsorships: Contracts with 16 companies will bring in more than $1 million a year, compared to about $500,000 per year in the Cincinnati Gardens, XU athletic director Mike Bobinski said.
Megan Donahue, director of marketing at Skyline, said the company was glad to pay an increased price for signs in Cintas Center, compared to the Gardens.
“We don't want to just have a sign,” she said. “We try not to be one of a million people that has the same arrangement.”
Bobinski said the school “tried to be selective” in selling advertising opportunities.
“We really believe that less is more when it comes to corporate sponsorships,” he said. “God love NASCAR, but this is not going to look like a NASCAR event.”
Operators already have booked about 400 events into Cintas Center for the year that started when the building opened in late June, said Phil Jones, director of the arena. About one-quarter of those are from the Xavier Consulting Group, the separate company also operated by Jones. But the rest include wedding receptions, high school graduations and the first “Xavier Extravaganza” Dec. 1-2 featuring 16 local high school basketball teams.
Jones said he would try to book some concerts, but the multiple uses of the building and heavy emphasis on XU events will limit any competition for the larger events at arenas like Cincinnati Gardens and Firstar Center.
Pete Robinson, president of the Gardens, said he did not regard Cintas Center as competition because it was not planned for the same kind of events.
Doug Kirchhofer, head of the ownership group at Firstar Center, said the downtown arena can fit up to one-third more patrons for concerts than Cintas Center.
“The advantage that we have here, especially for the larger shows, is capacity,” he said.
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