Utility to pay 1.25 million for ballpark name

CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA - Appalachian Power will pay about $125,000 per season over the next decade for naming rights to the West Virginia Power's ballpark, a source close to the negotiations said recently.

Spokesmen with the club and with the company would not confirm or deny the $1.25 million price tag, citing a contract between the two parties.

"I wish I could, but I can't," Appalachian Power spokeswoman Jeri Matheney said. She said representatives from the two parties talked about releasing the figure, but decided against it.

"We're contractually obligated to keep the terms of deal private," said Ryan Gates, the Power's director of business development. "It's just something that was mutually agreed to."

The sale proceeds will go toward leasing the ballpark from the city, but Charleston officials said that they did not require the team's owners to disclose the price.

The figure is also apparently about 10 percent less than what other similarly sized teams said they received for naming rights. The average price per year for naming rights at 13 other Class A parks in 10 states was $139,615, according to calculations based on figures from Mediaventures at www.sportsvenues.com.

Of those teams, four, like the Power, are in the South Atlantic League. Three, the Lakewood (N.J.) BlueClaws, the Lexington (Ky.) Legends and the Greensboro (N.C.) Grasshoppers, got at least $225,000 per year for stadium naming rights.

The fourth, the Kannapolis (N.C.) Intimidators, sold naming rights to their home field for $20,000 per year, according to Mediaventures. Five other Class A teams listed by Mediaventures receive less per year for naming rights than the Power.

Mediaventures, based in Milwaukee, said the listed prices were based on the best information available. The site also said "the price paid for naming rights is not made public."

Charleston's new East End ballpark replaces Kanawha City's Watt Powell Park, which housed the Charleston Alley Cats and their predecessors for decades. The city sold the park to help finance the new stadium.

Most of the stadium was paid for with public money, including a $12 million state grant.

When asked why the public shouldn't know how much the team will get for the naming rights - considering how much taxpayer money is going toward the stadium - Gates again said the contract prohibits announcing terms.

"It was part of the lease that the city gave the team the ability to sell the naming rights," he said.

American Electric Power has about a half-million West Virginia customers and about 2,500 employees in the Mountain State. Last year, the company renamed most of its West Virginia operations Appalachian Power, a moniker it had phased out for the unit in the mid-1990s.

The state Public Service Commission, which regulates utility companies such as Appalachian Power, could ask for information about the purchase price, Matheney said.

PSC officials won't forget that Appalachian Power bought the stadium naming rights the next time the company asks for a rate increase, said Billy Jack Gregg, head of the PSC's Consumer Advocate Division.

"Generally, any type of image-based advertising is disallowed for rate-making purposes," Gregg said. "It's fine for Appalachian Power and [AEP] to promote their image, but rate payers shouldn't be required to pay for marketing."