Just in time for the 2010 Pro Bowl and Super Bowl, Sun Life Financial has purchased naming rights to the 23-year-old Miami Dolphins stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, after itself. Boston-based Sun Life, a unit of Sun Life of Canada, will pay a reported $7.5 million a year for five years for the rights.
Sun Life Stadium is now the name of the home of the Miami Dolphins, the University of Miami Hurricanes, the Florida Marlins, and the FedEx Orange Bowl. It seats 76,500 people for football, 75,000 for soccer and up to 68,000 for baseball.
Since 1987, the structure has been called named Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, and, briefly, Land Shark Stadium. The stadium has hosted four Super Bowls, two World Series, and three BCS National Championship games.
The stadium is 95% owned by New York billionaire real estate baron Stephen M. Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins and founder, chairman and CEO of The Related Companies LLP (TRC), which built the $1.7 billion, 2.8 million square-foot Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in Manhattan.
Sun Life will promote itself as the “Official Insurance Partner of the Miami Dolphins” as well as the “Official Wealth Management Services Partner of the Miami Dolphins.” The Sun Life Stadium logo will appear on printed promotional materials related to the stadium, all paper tickets, and stadium signage.
Priscilla Brown, head of U.S. marketing for Sun Life, said the company’s branding efforts include a campaign focusing on national print ads showcasing the company’s financial strength and on the launch of the company’s first-ever national television advertising, featuring Karl and Miles, the “Sun Life guys.”
Commercials depict the “Sun Life guys” traveling the country, working hard to get people to know the Sun Life name-including trying to convince KC and the Sunshine Band to change its name to “KC and the Sun Life Band.” Today’s announcement featured a special performance by KC and the Sunshine Band.
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