Washington Nationals search for sponsors

Image: Nationals Park, Something Original, CC BY-SA 3.0

Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Washington Nationals are hoping to secure a stadium naming rights sponsor by the end of 2025.

Sports Illustrated said the Nationals are looking for both a naming sponsor and a jersey patch sponsor, neither of which they have had before.

The aim is for contracts for both opportunities to be signed this year—or better yet, by midseason.

The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in the 45,596-capacity RFK Stadium while a new stadium was being built.

The 41,313-capacity Nationals Park is a baseball park along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Home to the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball since its completion in 2008, it was the first LEED-certified Green major professional sports stadium in the United States.

Nationals chief revenue officer Mike Carney told Forbes, “Summertime is when the Nats are top of mind for our fan base, and we think that’s the perfect time to make an announcement.”

The team has attempted to nail down a stadium deal in the past, Carney clarified, but the “brands weren’t the right fit.”

Whoever the club chooses to partner with this time must demonstrate “shared values,” Carney continued, like a commitment to the community and support for the military.

The Nationals are one of eight teams that doesn’t have a corporate sponsor for its stadium. The Dodgers, Angels, Red Sox, Cubs, Yankees, Orioles and Royals are the others.

That doesn’t include the A’s (Sutter Health Park) and Rays (George M. Steinbrenner Field), who are in temporary homes for at least the upcoming season.

The hope is that the sponsorship cash, which could amount to more than $20 million, could be used to bolster player salaries, which have ranked in the league’s bottom 10 for the past couple of seasons.

Carney said, “We want to win championships, and we are really excited about the team we have on the field today.

“We want to be that brand that is a consistent winner year in and year out, and this is going to help to do that.”

Meanwhile, the Nationals have regained their broadcast rights after 20 years under the control of the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which is owned by the Baltimore Orioles.

MASN will air Washington’s games for the 2025 season under the terms of a new deal, but the Nats will be able to sell the rights after that.

Though the streaming and cord-cutting era has decreased the value of those rights, that sale should also serve as another new source of revenue for the team.

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