Sawt Falasteen - World Cup venues scrub branding, get new names for tournament

The home of the city's NFL teams, the Rams and the Chargers, is normally called SoFi Stadium. But world football's governing body FIFA has a so-called "clean stadium" policy, banning World Cup venues from displaying branding of companies that are not official FIFA sponsors.

Companies like digital personal financial firm SoFi, insurer MetLife and energy giant NRG -- which each signed nine-figure deals to secure stadium naming rights -- have seen the venues they sponsor renamed Los Angeles Stadium, New York New Jersey Stadium and Houston Stadium for the world's most-watched sporting event.

"They're not happy, they paid a lot of money to have visibility in those stadiums but it's one of these things that they probably could not prevent in this situation," Rick Burton, emeritus professor at Syracuse Universe's Falk College of Sport, told AFP.

With all the World Cup games hosted in existing venues -- unlike previous editions like Qatar where stadiums were purpose-built for the event -- the temporary renamings have been a more prominent issue this time around, he said.

The only 2026 World Cup venue not affected by the rule is Vancouver's BC Place.

"Stadium official names for the FIFA World Cup 2026 have been matched with Host City names and may differ from the common designation used locally," FIFA said on its tournament website.

Not all venues have been able to comply with regulations. Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium was unable to figure out a way to cover up a giant logo of the luxury carmaker on the building's roof, made up of eight giant panels that rotate to close like the aperture in a camera lens.

Unable to mask the logo without damaging the roof, FIFA allowed the stadium to leave it as is, US media have reported.

"FIFA is working closely with stadium authorities and host cities to implement (brand protection) requirements in a manner consistent with previous editions of the tournament, while taking into account the unique infrastructure and operational considerations at each venue," it told The Athletic.

In Seattle, telecommunications company Lumen did its best to turn the situation on its head, filming a tongue-in-cheek video from the stadium it sponsors, normally the home of the NFL's Seahawks and MLS' Sounders.

"As international fans fly in from across the world to our city, our stadium, my job is to ensure our brand is nowhere," Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Ryan Asdourian said in the clip.

Wearing a hardhat and neon safety vest, the executive is shown combing the stadium for Lumen branding, with the result being that its logo is prominently displayed -- in the video, at least.

With the Olympics having a similar "clean" policy for its venues, SoFi Stadium will have to scrub its sponsor's branding again in two years -- when it will host, among other events, the opening ceremony of the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.

D.Qudsi--SF-PST