Sports Illustrated has assumed naming rights to the New York Red Bulls' Harrison, New Jersey stadium under a 13-year agreement, replacing Red Bull itself as the venue's title sponsor. The energy drink company, which still owns the MLS franchise, will no longer have its name on the building it opened in 2010.
The deal marks Sports Illustrated's first stadium naming rights acquisition and Red Bull's first separation of brand identity from a property it controls. Red Bull Arena, which cost roughly $200 million to construct, seats 25,000 and has hosted 14 seasons of MLS soccer plus U.S. men's national team matches. The venue generates approximately $8 million annually in non-matchday revenue through concerts and corporate events, according to public filings. Sports Illustrated did not disclose deal terms, and neither party confirmed whether cash changed hands or if the arrangement involves media inventory swaps.
The move arrives as Red Bull reallocates global marketing spend toward Formula One and extreme sports properties where it controls broadcast output. The company already operates RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg, and Red Bull Racing. Naming a stadium after yourself when you own the team inside it generates no incremental brand lift, just maintenance costs for signage and activation rights you already possess. Dropping $1.2 million annually on naming rights—the rough MLS stadium average—to advertise to your own season-ticket holders carries limited ROI when compared to a $15 million F1 hospitality suite where CEOs drink your product for three days.
Sports Illustrated's play is transparency itself. The brand has spent two years under Authentic Brands Group ownership after a $110 million acquisition in 2019, followed by a messy 2024 licensing dispute that saw mass layrivals and the shuttering of its print operation. ABG operates on a licensing model: it owns trademarks, then rents them to operators who run the actual business. A stadium naming deal costs far less than a jersey sponsorship—MLS shirt deals run $4 million to $8 million annually—and delivers 25 home dates plus 40-plus events per year of signage exposure in the New York market. The venue sits 9 miles from Manhattan, visible from Newark Airport approach paths.
The Red Bulls, meanwhile, continue operating as a Red Bull entity. The team's jerseys still carry the bull logo. The club's academy still feeds players to Leipzig and Salzburg. What changes is the stadium's exterior wordmark and the corporate hospitality branding, which now tilts toward Sports Illustrated's licensing partnerships in apparel, betting, and collectibles. ABG will use the venue for product launches and press events, per a person familiar with the arrangement who requested anonymity because terms remain private.
Two near-term signals matter. First, whether Sports Illustrated announces a co-branded sportsbook lounge inside the stadium before New York's 2025 mobile sports betting license renewal window closes. Second, whether Red Bull assigns similar naming separations at Salzburg's Red Bull Arena or Leipzig's Red Bull Arena, both of which face tighter European sponsorship disclosure rules under UEFA's 2024 financial sustainability regulations. If this is a one-off, it's a New York market play. If it spreads, it's a global brand reallocation.
The 13-year term runs through 2038, one year past the Red Bulls' current MLS stadium lease with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. That alignment is not accidental.
The takeaway
Red Bull trades its own stadium name for operational flexibility while Sports Illustrated secures low-cost New York market exposure under ABG's licensing model.
naming rightsmlsred bullsports illustratedstadium dealsauthentic brands group
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