Why Levi Strauss Is Putting Its Name on the 49ers Stadium

The San Francisco Chronicle broke the news today that Levi Strauss will put its name on the San Francisco 49ers new stadium in Santa Clara. The deal, which the Mercury News reports is for $220 million over two decades, is a departure from the norm in the Bay Area, where stadiums tend to take the names of tech and telephone companies. (See: Oracle Arena, O.co Coliseum, AT&T Park, and, once upon a time, 3Com Park.)

“It was a bit of surprise,” says Jim Andrews, vice president for content strategy at sponsorship consultant IEG. Andrews and IEG worked with the 49ers to evaluate potential sponsorship packages and corporate partners. When the IEG team was looking over the list of potential naming-rights partners, Andrews says, Levi’s was not at the top. “We haven’t seen a lot of apparel companies do this before,” he says.