Sports Illustrated will replace Red Bull's name on the 28,000-seat soccer stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, under a 13-year naming rights agreement announced this week. The venue opened in 2010 as Red Bull Arena after the beverage company acquired the MLS franchise in 2006 for roughly $25 million and spent $200 million building the facility. Red Bull retains full ownership of both the team and the stadium.
The deal marks the first naming rights purchase by Sports Illustrated, a 70-year-old magazine brand that Authentic Brands Group acquired out of bankruptcy in 2019 for $110 million. ABG does not publish editorial; it licenses the SI name to The Arena Group, which laid off most of the magazine's staff in January 2024, and to dozens of apparel and hospitality partners. The Harrison stadium deal appears designed to generate visibility for SI-branded retail and hospitality ventures rather than support journalism. ABG did not disclose the annual rights fee, but comparable MLS stadium deals in secondary markets typically range from $2 million to $4 million per year.
Red Bull's willingness to sell the naming rights after 15 years suggests the company is re-evaluating its return on soccer marketing spend in the United States. The Austrian beverage brand operates five soccer clubs globally, including RB Leipzig in Germany's Bundesliga, and uses the teams primarily as marketing vehicles rather than profit centers. The New York franchise has never won an MLS Cup despite consistent playoff appearances and ranks in the middle of the league's attendance figures, averaging roughly 18,000 fans per match in 2024. Removing the corporate name from the stadium allows Red Bull to capture a rights fee while maintaining operational control and kit sponsorship, effectively monetizing an asset it already built.
The structure is unusual: a corporate owner selling naming rights to a brand owner that does not operate the underlying business. Sports Illustrated has no apparent connection to soccer or the New York market beyond hospitality licensing deals at other venues. The move resembles ABG's strategy with Reebok, Brooks Brothers, and Barneys—maximize trademark revenue through partnerships while avoiding the cost of manufacturing, retail, or editorial operations. The Harrison rebrand will test whether a legacy media brand with no active newsroom can command the sponsor visibility and fan credibility that beverage, airline, and financial services companies typically buy.
The announcement coincides with MLS's ongoing effort to professionalize its commercial infrastructure ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States. Several MLS franchises have secured or renegotiated naming rights deals in the past 18 months, including a $6 million-per-year agreement between Chase and the Columbus Crew's new downtown stadium. Red Bull Arena sits across the Passaic River from Lower Manhattan and is accessible via PATH train, but the venue has struggled to attract consistent non-soccer event bookings due to its size and location.
What to watch: whether Sports Illustrated attempts to integrate editorial or digital content tied to the venue, such as match coverage or youth soccer programming, or whether the deal remains purely a branding exercise. Red Bull's next sponsor move will likely involve kit or sleeve partnerships, which remain more visible during broadcasts than stadium naming rights. MLS teams can negotiate local broadcast and sponsorship deals independently, and the Red Bulls' current kit sponsor, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, is up for renewal in 2026.
The rebrand is scheduled to take effect before the 2026 MLS season opener in late February. Red Bull will continue to appear on team kits, training gear, and all franchise marketing materials.
The takeaway
Red Bull monetizes its own stadium after 15 years while Sports Illustrated's parent company tests whether a hollowed-out media brand can function as a venue sponsor.
naming rightsmlssports illustratedred bullstadium sponsorshipauthentic brands group
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