More TIA walls may soon hold ads

By JEAN HELLER

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 15, 2000

TAMPA -- First there was Tropicana Field. Then Raymond James Stadium. Is it possible we could someday have the "Tampa Home Shopping Network International Airport?"

No time soon, airport officials say, but anything is possible.

For the moment, the staff of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority is preparing a proposal that would, for the first time, officially sanction something that other airports across the country have had for years: advertising inside terminal areas.

Such a move would be another in a long list of taboos that have fallen at TIA in recent years, including an edict against selling lottery tickets and chewing gum at airport concession stands and a policy against an in-house chapel.

The purpose of this change is purely and simply financial.

"Our policy has been not to allow advertising, but when the airlines still had management control of Airsides C and D, they did allow a little bit, for Hertz and Busch Gardens, and our share of that revenue has been $11,000 to $12,000 a month," said Louis Miller, executive director of the Aviation Authority.

"When we assumed management of those two airsides last October, we kept the advertising. If we expand it to Airsides A and F, and E when it's ready, and to baggage claim, there is a potential for new revenue of a half-million dollars a year. That doesn't seem like a lot when you compare it to total airport revenue of $120-million a year, but it will certainly help pay for ongoing airport improvements."

Miller said the advertisements, mostly done in lighted 3- by 5-foot dioramas, will have to be subtle, tasteful and in keeping with the decor of the airport.

"There would be a limited number per airside, they could not block passenger movement or their line of sight," Miller said.

If the Aviation Authority board votes later this year to proceed with the project, the agency will issue a request for proposal to the handful of companies around the country that specialize in managing airport advertising programs. Ad proposals would be subject to Aviation Authority approval. And ad revenue would be split 50-50 between the airport and the ad manager.

"Obviously, the company we pick would be the one that guaranteed us the most revenue," Miller said.

If there is significant cash to be had by selling diorama space inside the terminal, how much more would be available if the airport sold its name, as sports stadiums all across the country have done and as the PGA has done for most of its golf tournaments? The St. Petersburg-based Raymond James Financial Inc., bought the rights to the name of the Buccaneers stadium for $35-million for 13 years. Tropicana, the Bradenton-based citrus company, bought the rights to the Devil Rays' home for $30-million to $50-million over 30 years. Why not extend the practice to airports?

"It's not too unrealistic," Miller said.

Several months ago, a city council member in Atlanta suggested that Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport sell its name, although the proposal has not gone beyond the suggestion stage at this point.

"Nobody ever voted on it," said Hartsfield spokesman Dellous Smith. "All it was was talk."

Still, a local airport with a local commercial name -- Hav-A-Tampa International Airport, ironically a non-smoking facility -- would serve the local economy in more than one way.

Said Miller: "It might happen one of these days. Somewhere. Not here."

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