Toyota's New "Center"

By Sean Gregory

Naming rights to sports facilities usually go to local companies: there's Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.; Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco; and America West Arena in Phoenix, Ariz., among others. So why is Toyota, a Japanese company with U.S. offices in Torrance, Calif., the nameplate for the new Toyota Center arena in Houston? For one 7-ft. 5-in. reason: Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets star from Shanghai. Toyota opened a new plant in Tianjin, China, and hopes millions of Yao fans will soon be Corolla fans.

The company will pay $100 million over 20 years for the rights to Houston's home, even though Yao has only three years remaining on his Rockets contract. "Attaching a personality to a car can generate interest," says Alexander Edwards of Strategic Vision, an auto consultancy, "but it alone rarely increases sales." Houston stadiums have had some bad karma too. Reliant Energy bought naming rights to the NFL's Houston Texans stadium three years ago. The company, now called CenterPoint Energy, has seen its stock drop 70% since the deal. Remember Enron Field, home of baseball's Houston Astros? The team had to buy back the name from the scandalous energy company. New name: Minute Maid Park.