City council hears plan to sell facility naming rights; Sportsman Solutions outlines local-first sponsorship strategy

KILLEEN, Texas — At a June 3 meeting of the Killeen City Council, a consultant hired to market naming rights and other sponsorships for city parks gave a detailed explanation of how sponsorship values were set and how the company intends to recruit sponsors.

The presentation by Ryan Patrick, vice president of Sportsman Solutions, reviewed recent projects the firm has sold elsewhere and explained the firm’s process for valuing assets and reaching prospects. Assistant City Manager Wilson introduced the presentation and Parks staff attended to answer council questions.

Sportsman Solutions said it seeks to prioritize local partners and tailors packages to the size and use of each facility. “It is our our best intention to look local first in the community,” Patrick told the council, adding the firm builds prospect lists with paid tools and outreach. He described a marketing spend the firm applies to each project: “We are able to use about 25,000 worth of marketing materials where we help identify, whether it’s ZoomInfo or SponsorUnited.”

Patrick walked council members through comparable projects the firm has placed in other cities — including naming-rights deals sized from several thousand dollars a year for individual fields up to six-figure annual deals for high-profile facilities — and said the firm uses those market precedents and local usage data to set initial “go-to-market” values. Examples cited during the presentation included a 30,000-per-year, five-year naming-rights package for an indoor attraction in a community outside Dallas and a 70,000-per-year, five-year naming-rights agreement in North Dallas for a high-traffic sports village.

Parks Director Antonio Murphy told the council the city is exploring how revenue from sponsorships could support youth access programs. Murphy said staff is considering reserving a portion of sponsorship revenue for a scholarship fund so families who cannot afford program fees would still be able to participate: “To take a certain percentage of what would be generated from these sponsorship agreements … and set up sort of, loosely based terminology, a scholarship fund,” Murphy said.

Council members asked about the firm’s outreach to small local businesses, the use of Chamber relationships and how the city would ensure local participation and visibility. Patrick said Sportsman Solutions engages local chambers and builds tiered sponsorships so smaller businesses can participate at lower price points; he gave examples of a la carte options ranging from several hundred to a few thousand dollars per year for smaller assets.

No formal council action was taken; the presentation was informational. Parks staff said they will continue to work with Sportsman Solutions to refine packets and outreach materials and will return with sponsorship proposals for specific facilities before any naming agreements are approved.

Patrick and Murphy emphasized the goal of balancing aggressive market values with options that work for local businesses and community needs. “We start off every packet kind of in a good go-to-market aggressive manner… and ultimately try and create those go-to-market numbers, in a packet that creates a little bit of buffer,” Patrick said.

Council members indicated interest in moving forward but signaled they wanted to see specific sponsorship proposals and legal review of naming-rights contract language before authorizing any sales. Parks staff said they will report back with details and potential allocations for program use of revenue.