Real Salt Lake looking for naming sponsor

Major League Soccer Real Salt Lake's 20,000 seat stadium, being built in Sandy, Utah, will be ready in the summer of 2008, and the club wants a 15-year naming rights contract worth USD 2 million a year.

Gary Pluchino, a New York-based marketing authority and a senior vice-president at international marketing firm IMG, said he is selling an "integrated marketing platform," that covers television and radio spots, print advertising, promotional nights at the stadium, along with the right to use the facility for corporate events.

Pluchino said the naming opportunity has created interest among companies in the telecommunications, oil and gas, financial services, retail and airline industries. He plans to encourage local and regional businesses, along with national corporations that are well known in Utah.

Pluchino said he is not bothered by the uproar that followed Real Salt Lake's quest to get USD 35 million in Salt Lake County hotel taxes for the USD 110 million stadium. The money finally came through last month after two years of negotiations.

"Political infighting happens with any facility built with public funds," said Pluchino. "The whole political thing is not specific to Salt Lake City. It's not right or wrong. People have different views of how public money should be spent," he said.

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