Next stop: Citi Hall?
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
First AT&T, now Jefferson Station — SEPTA says "we'll entertain all offers" for corporate naming rights. How far will it go?
Emily Guendelsberger
After SEPTA announced last week that it was changing the name of Market East Station to Jefferson Station in a five-year, nearly $4 million deal with nearby Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, the City Paper offices were abuzz for a day or two with ideas for other, stupider corporate sponsorships: Sweet’N Logan. Bath and Body Berks. Spring Gardasil.
Public-transit naming rights have been in the news all summer. Last month, 30th Street Station was technically renamed “William H. Gray III 30th Street Station.” In June, City Paper reported rumors that Verizon had been discussing buying naming rights to Suburban Station — the corporate equivalent of leaving a flaming bag of poop on the doorstep of rival Comcast’s headquarters. And at Jefferson Station’s “surprise” unveiling, SEPTA media relations director Jerri Williams joked that this had to be “the city’s worst-kept secret.”
But SEPTA still went through with last Thursday’s dramatic, sheet-pulling reveal of Market East’s presidential new name and logo. “Beginning tomorrow, SEPTA commuters and visitors will see new signage and maps,” said SEPTA general manager Joe Casey. “And conductors at Temple and Suburban Station will call out, “Next stop: Jefferson Station!”
“Jefferson Station” makes a lot more sense than SEPTA’s previous (and first-ever) deal in 2010, a five-year contract renaming the Pattison Avenue stop AT&T Station, despite little logical connection between the telecom company and the stadiums in deep South Philly outside of “We paid for this.”
“We try to make sure our revenues can cover our expenses as best we can; this is a great way to do it with these naming rights, and it’s something we want to pursue in the future,” SEPTA board chairman Pat Deon told the crowd last week. “The board has really made a commitment to these renamings.”
After the unveiling, Casey was coy about Verizon Station rumors. “This is a way to keep our fares low and to help rebuild our facilities, so there’s a number of things in the works,” he says. But not Verizon Station? “We talked to a number of people,” says Casey. Williams, standing nearby, cuts in: “No, we’re being straight about it — we’re not doing Suburban Station.” Later, she clarifies: “Any rumors that Suburban Station will become Verizon Station are inaccurate.”
Comcast would be the obvious corporate sponsor for Suburban Station — its headquarters is right there, it’s a huge part of the skyline and employs a ton of commuters and it would keep Verizon out. But all Williams will say about Comcast is that “it would be inappropriate to address specific rumors.” (Comcast didn’t reply to a request for comment.)
A frequent concern about transit naming rights is with sponsorships that have no physical connection to the station — that the public’s need for a system that’s clear and easy to navigate will be trampled in the rush for dollars, leading to nightmare sentences like, “Get on at Verizon FiOS, then transfer to the McDonald’s line at Samsung Station and then it’s three stops to Deutsche Telekom!”
New York’s MTA got into the naming-rights game in 2009; it reassures riders that its policy is to maintain usability above all: “Renaming will only be considered when a potential sponsor has a unique or iconic geographic, historic or other connection to a station that would be obvious to typical MTA customers.”
SEPTA declined to supply official policies or standards for naming rights, saying opportunities are addressed on “a case-by-case basis.”
“We’ll entertain anything,” says Casey when asked if SEPTA has guidelines similar to the MTA’s. “This is a good fit with Jefferson because of the proximity of their facilities.” Other good candidates? “Spring Garden is a fit for the SugarHouse Casino, and Suburban Station is a good fit,” Casey says, though he declines to specify what for. “Again, we’ll entertain all offers.”
Curious, City Paper submitted a list of increasingly inappropriate names — McDonald’s Station, FrankFord Focus Station, Snyder’s of Hanover Gluten-Free Pretzel Sticks Station, Spring Gardasil Station and Penthouse Presents 69th Street Station — and asked whether any would not be considered. We got back a statement: “SEPTA is open to discuss Naming Rights, (Stations or Transportation Route/Lines) with most organizations. The Station Name should be succinct. The Authority would use professional judgment in any decision and will not entertain station naming which would be offensive to our customers and the region we serve.”
The “We’ll consider anything!” attitude and press-conference quotes sound desperate, as if naming-rights deals are crucial to keeping bridges intact and fares stable. But the sponsorship money doesn’t even go into the general SEPTA pot — “One hundred percent of the advertising revenue from this deal with Jefferson will go solely toward operation, maintenance and improvement of Jefferson Station,” says Williams.
It wouldn’t make a huge difference if the naming-rights money wasn’t earmarked for nicer bathrooms (among other things) in Jefferson Station, anyway. Though $4 million is a big number, when you subtract the middleman fee for ad-sales company Titan Outdoor, the Jefferson deal only comes to about $663,000 per year for SEPTA. For context:
$650,000: Approximately the sum of the annual salaries of 10 union SEPTA employees.
$680,000: SEPTA’s annual take from the naming-rights deal with AT&T.
$12 million: SEPTA’s average annual advertising revenue.
$15 million: Extra revenue brought in last year by SEPTA’s 2013 fare hike.
$30 million: Cost of the renovation of the Girard and Spring Garden stops on the Broad Street Line.
$571.8 million: SEPTA’s capital budget for the 2015 fiscal year.
$6.5 billion: SEPTA’s estimate of what it needs to keep the infrastructure in safe condition over the next decade.
In other words, corporate-sponsored names are a tiny drop in the bucket. So why does everybody sound so desperate?
Maybe it’s habit: Last year, SEPTA’s capital budget was a brutal $308 million. In writing 2007’s Act 44 to revamp public-transit funding, the Pennsylvania state legislature disastrously counted its new I-80 tolls way, way, way before they’d hatched. When the federal government rejected the tolls in 2010, it took three more years to come up with a plan B, leaving SEPTA to starve until a fix, Act 89, passed last fall.
Or maybe it’s keeping up by-your-bootstraps appearances: According to an older SEPTA press release: “Under Act 44, SEPTA is encouraged to explore alternative income streams. In 2008, advertising generated more than $11 million. These ad dollars are used to supplement the transit authority’s operating budget.”
Though SEPTA’s budget is much less dire now than it was at the time of the AT&T deal in 2010, the agency just renewed its ad-sales contract with Titan, and are trying harder than ever to do more.
“We committed to a significant amount of digital build out; you’re going to see it at stations,” says Jon Roche, Titan’s VP in Philadelphia. A third of the regional rail fleet already has digital advertisement screens, and, according to Roche, that’s only the beginning. “All new vehicle purchases, whether they’re trains, subways or buses, will have digital screens in them. There potentially could be areas for street-level digital on SEPTA property as well. These contracts will likely occur in the next five years.” Williams declined to comment on specific plans, but confirmed that “digital advertising could appear on all SEPTA-operated services and at all SEPTA-owned properties.”
So are there going to be digital ads all over SEPTA in the next five years? Sure sounds like it.
Will we see a Comcast Center or SugarHouse Station in the next couple years? It seems very possible.
Are AT&T and SEPTA likely to re-up on AT&T Station next year? Neither party would comment specifically, though SEPTA said in a statement that the “agreement ends on July 31, 2015, unless AT&T exercises its right to extend the agreement. Signage would be updated after the contract ends. Many companies are interested in Naming Rights.”
But will we see a Verizon Station, a McDonald’s Station or some other AT&T-like deal with no clear connection between the corporate sponsor and the physical location? It seems unlikely that SEPTA’s going to be that desperate again in the near future.
