Colleges

Who has Sun Dome naming rights?

USF and a sports marketing firm differ on who has final call.

By GREG AUMAN
Published July 14, 2007

TAMPA - In most instances, finding a corporate sponsor to put its name on a college arena is a good-for-all-parties endeavor, a source of millions of dollars in revenue for a university and a name-recognition boon to a company seeking greater exposure.

USF's search for a name for its Sun Dome hasn't gone so smoothly, especially in the last 48 hours.

And a Tampa student loan company's attempt to buy the naming rights has brought to light an important question: Does USF have the right to approve the sponsor whose name will adorn its campus arena, or did the Bulls sign that away in a contract with a broker who now is working against their expressed interests?

Last year, Action Sports Media, a Tennessee-based sports marketing company, provided USF with $1.8-million in video scoreboards for the right to broker the naming rights for the Sun Dome, also getting 30 percent of the revenues that sponsorship brings. The contract signed last year states Action Sports must find a sponsor paying at least $400,000 a year for at least five years.

But according to USF's general counsel, there is a provision that the Sun Dome may reject a sponsor it deems "offensive or inappropriate," and governmental scrutiny of the student-loan industry has USF hesitant to enter into a high-profile partnership with a student-loan company.

"The word inappropriate goes back to our discussions that the industry and the concerns being raised on a national level did not appear to make it an appropriate relationship," said Steven Oscher, president of Sun Dome Inc., which manages the arena. "And until the national issues are resolved, we feel very uncomfortable."

Action Sports felt no such discomfort. On May 1, it announced to USF it had a lucrative offer from Academic Financial Services, a Tampa-based student-loan company, worth at least $2.99-million over five years.

"This is an exciting day for ASM and the Sun Dome," chief financial officer Jerry Felix wrote in a letter to USF athletic director Doug Woolard.

What followed was an awkward volley of rejections, and rejections of rejections.

The feud went public Thursday, when it also was learned that Academic Financial Services chief executive officer Wayne Morgan, 36, has several arrests and convictions in his past. Morgan said Thursday that he had not stopped pursuing the naming rights on the Sun Dome.

Action Sports said its belief that it can sign an agreement without USF's approval has not changed.

"Everything is status quo right now," said Tom Veit, a former USF associate athletic director who now works out of the Sun Dome as general manager for Action Sports in Tampa.

Greg Auman can be reached at auman@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3346.

[Last modified July 14, 2007, 00:49:37]