Tampa Bay area companies may like to spend money putting their names on sports stadiums, but this is no Houston.
Three of the top 10 naming-rights deals in the country were for Houston facilities, according to an annual compilation by Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal.
The granddaddy of all naming rights deals, by far, is the $300-million, 30-year pact by Reliant Energy to put its name on the home stadium of the Houston Texans. That deal goes until 2033, giving Reliant plenty of time to see the expansion Texans make it to a Super Bowl.
No. 3 on the list was the $195-million pact for American Airlines Center, home of the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, while Toyota Center, home of the Houston Rockets and Houston Comets, was in a tie for No. 10.
By contrast, the bay area's highest entry was No. 28: Raymond James' $55-million pact to put its name on the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 18 years. At No. 32: Tropicana Products' $46-million, 30-year deal to name the home field for the Devil Rays. The St. Petersburg Times' $30-million, 12-year deal to rename the Lightning's home ice the St. Pete Times Forum came in tied for 46th with the Fleet Center in Boston (which is expected to be renamed for Bank of America after it closes on its acquisition of FleetBoston Financial).
