Aquarium a name-dropper

Now we know what the new Seattle aquarium might look like, but what's it going to be called?

How about Boeing Aquaspace, Starbucks Frappaquarium or perhaps Ivar's Salmon House II?

Following the lead of Safeco Field, KeyArena and stadiums across the country, the aquarium plans to sell naming rights to help pay for the $206 million flying-saucer-like building unveiled this week.

Marketing experts say it would be the first aquarium in the nation to sell naming rights to its building.

Aquarium backers hope a person or company will pay $5 million to $50 million for the opportunity.

"If somebody walked in and said `I want to name this building' and offered us $50 million, we'd say it's a deal," said George Willoughby, president of the private, nonprofit Seattle Aquarium Society.

The society wants to replace the 23-year-old city aquarium at Pier 59 with a new building at piers 62 and 63. The City Council tentatively agreed to contribute $21 million, but it's studying alternative sites that won't block water views as much.

Companies will be asked to pay to name features and exhibits, as well as the entire building.

Willoughby has sponsors in mind but wouldn't be specific.

"There's all the usual suspects," he said.

Among the big-name companies that already sponsor aquarium events are Boeing, Starbucks, Costco, REI, Alaska Airlines and Visio. Regional supporters include The Bon Marche and Ivar's.

Safeco paid $40 million to hang its name on Seattle's baseball stadium for 20 years, and KeyBank paid $15 million to rename the Seattle Center Coliseum for 15 years.

Seattle Seahawks' owner Paul Allen is counting on someone naming the football stadium rising out of the Kingdome rubble, and in November the University of Washington will reopen Edmundson Pavilion as Bank of America Arena at Edmundson Pavilion.

It all started in 1973 when Rich Products, a food company, paid to name the Buffalo Bills' professional football stadium in New York.

More than 70 pro-sports venues have since sold naming rights to finance buildings. Top bids so far are the $200 million American Airlines paid to name a hockey and basketball arena in Dallas, and the $205 million FedEx paid to name the new stadium for the NFL's Washington Redskins, said Dennis Howard, a professor of sports marketing at the University of Oregon.

With that kind of money flying around, it's not surprising that concert halls, schools and even Broadway theaters are selling naming rights. Atlanta is considering selling naming rights for an airport and parks, and Houston may sell naming rights for transit stations.

But Seattle "may be starting a significant new trend in the whole aquarium end of things, which is exciting," Howard said.

"If they get a million or two (a year), that still gives the operators the ability to go out and borrow a tremendous amount of money toward the capital construction costs," he said.

Marketing directors at other aquariums and zoos say they haven't considered selling naming rights, but it's common for companies to sponsor an exhibit.

"People are looking for more visibility for their donations," said Dawn Doorn, development director at Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, who is giving a presentation on fund-raising ethics at the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's annual meeting in September.

At the Vancouver, B.C., aquarium, which is raising $10 million for expansion, companies may pay to display their name in lights above the species they pay to sponsor.

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma has been short on cash recently, but it never considered selling naming rights, said marketing director Sally Perkins.

The only thing close is US West's $5 million sponsorship of a new $93 million aquarium in Denver, near its headquarters. Colorado's Ocean Journey bills itself as "presented by US West" and renamed its 17-acre site "US West Park," although the names are changing since the company was renamed Qwest.

Some Colorado aquarium backers wanted to name the entire building after the phone company, said Jim Hekkers, the aquarium's president.

"It was a hard choice," he said. "For us, Colorado's Ocean Journey described what we are. It seemed incredibly commercial to call it `Whoever's Ocean Journey,' so this just seemed like a more palatable way to do it."

Brier Dudley's phone message number is 206-515-5687. His e-mail address is bdudley@seattletimes.com.