Rendering the newly rechristened GEO Group Stadium at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton.
A heated debate has arisen at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton regarding the new name for the university's football stadium, prompting angry protests from hundreds of students and faculty.
Earlier this year, the university received $6 million from GEO Group, a private prison corporation, to become the name sponsor of its 29,419-seat, $70-million open-air stadium. The stadium, which opened in 2011 and has 24 suites, 1,000 premier club seats and a view of the ocean, will be renamed GEO Group Stadium if the school's board of trustees has its way. George Zoley, GEO’s chairman, is a two-time FAU alumnus and former chair of the school's Board of Trustees.
A student group has raised opposition to letting a private prison company buy the naming rights at its school and has pointed to several high-profile lawsuits. The company, which earned $1.6 billion in revenue in 2011, has been opposed by human rights and immigrant rights organizations.
Last week, FAU President Mary Jane Saunders held a meeting on campus to discuss the deal after a group of students started the Stop Owlcatraz Coalition (“Owlcatraz” is a play off the team's nickname Owls) and flooded her office with protests. The meeting drew about 250 people, many of which opposed the sponsorship, which Saunders noted wasn't being treated like a chartible gift but, instead, was considered more like a sponsorship deal.
Venues "and especially universities are getting more creative about how they go after the naming rights dollar as opposed to traditional philanthropic dollars," said Eric Smallwood, executive VP at Front Row Marketing, which helps venues and sports properties manage and sell sponsorship and multimedia rights. "The categories that are being created for naming rights are starting to appear out of the traditional realm" of industries like banking, insurance and auto manufacturers.
Despite some student protest, President Saunders said the agreement is a done deal and the school is already moving forward with their timeline. Miami-based attorney at Wolfe Law Miami, P.A., Darren Heitner said there isn't much the students can do except let their voices be heard.
“I cannot fathom a legitimate cause of action that FAU students would have against the university,” said Heitner, who also teaches a satellite course on sports agency management at Indiana University, Bloomington. “The name of the facility is an item that the university controls and is free to grant to whomever it chooses.”
Saunders said the university has been assured that GEO Group runs its facilities properly. However, Heitner believes FAU should carefully construct its contract with GEO Group to protect itself against the possibility of bad publicity down the road.
“The university should require a termination right in the case that the company goes through a material adverse change, such as being found guilty in a civil action,” Heitner said. “The university will likely want a clause that allows it to terminate the naming rights deal due to a decrease in the quality of the sponsor and wish to no longer associate with it.”
Following Saunders' on-campus meeting, students continued to protest and insisted they will continue to show their displeasure.
Whether this unusual controversy will fade away with time or stay at the forefront for those on campus and in the local and national media is difficult to gauge, Heitner said. Could they have gone with another company? The university does not use public money for its athletic facilities and claims GEO Group was their best option.
“Perhaps FAU could have signed a marginally smaller deal with an airline or food chain, but we are not privy to such information,” he said. “On the outside looking in, it is tough to say whether FAU's decision was worthwhile for the university.”
Interviewed for this story: Eric Smallwood, (215) 389-9516; Darren Heitner, (305) 384-7370