Cleveland committee approves consultant study for corporate sponsorships of city parks and facilities

The Cleveland City Council Safety Committee on Sept. 2025 approved an emergency ordinance directing the finance director to hire consultants to study corporate sponsorship opportunities for city parks and other facilities and to pursue sponsorships if the assessment finds viable properties.

The ordinance authorizes up to roughly $305,000 for consultant work. Parks and Recreation Director Alex ******* told the committee the work would proceed in two phases: a 90-day assessment estimated at $125,000 to evaluate facilities’ suitability for sponsorships, followed, only if the city wishes to proceed, by an 18-month sponsorship solicitation phase during which the vendor would solicit sponsors and receive a portion of resulting revenue while “the city would receive the majority of that compensation.”

The item was presented as part of recommendations tied to the Parks and Recreation master plan. Alex ******* said the plan identified parks operations and facilities as underfunded and described corporate sponsorships as “an opportunity for the city to get funding that would not come out of the general fund.”

Committee members pressed staff on naming rights and signage. When the chair asked whether existing named facilities would be renamed, Alex ******* said, “The goal of this project is not to change the name of any of those facilities.” The chief operating officer added that naming terms and sign size would be determined during negotiations and would be handled “similar to any naming rights that we have on any buildings.” The director said Playhouse Square-style sponsorships that retain existing names were a likely model.

The RFP process yielded one proposal from a local firm identified in the meeting as the Superlative Group; staff said 19 vendors showed interest and five downloaded the RFP. Staff described the contract as paid from contractual services (funding code 01452) in the current budget.

Law department language was added during committee to clarify oversight: any sale of corporate sponsorships or naming or renaming of city-owned properties must obtain legislative approval prior to the sale or renaming. The committee’s announcement at the end of the discussion was, “Again, ordinance 8 20 dash 25, as amended is approved. Please sign it up.”

Council members also requested that the administration develop a formal policy and process for reviewing current facility names and for future naming decisions. Councilwoman House Jones urged a formal evaluation of current building names and standards for future naming, and staff agreed to work with council on a naming process and criteria.

The approved amendment requires future sponsorship agreements that rename or sell naming rights for city property to return to council for legislative approval, while allowing the administration to proceed with the consultant study and the vendor phases as described.

The committee’s approval authorizes the administration to proceed with the consultant engagement and assessment; any subsequent naming or renaming agreements must come back to council under the amendment added to the ordinance.

Less-critical details: staff identified the initial assessment budget ($125,000) and told the committee the vendor’s second-phase compensation would be revenue-share based. The RFP response list and the funding code (01452) were provided during the committee Q&A.