Interested in naming rights for Solon Community Park? Contact Superlative Group

SOLON, Ohio – The Superlative Group Inc., a Cleveland-based marketing consultant, has set its sights on finding an entity that wishes to secure the naming rights for Solon Community Park, which is in the process of a major renovation.

“We are targeting a large number of organizations for the naming rights of the entire park,” Kyle Canter, chief operating officer of The Superlative Group, told City Council at a work session Friday (Oct. 11).

“Our strategy is to target and really focus on that opportunity. It’s far and away the most critical partnership financially.”

Council authorized Mayor Ed Kraus last October to hire The Superlative Group to provide the city with services regarding naming rights, sponsorship valuation and sales services for marketable opportunities.

The purpose of the work session was for Superlative representatives to provide council with an update on its progress, especially in regard to securing naming rights for the park and other sponsorship opportunities related to that.

“There’s a lot that takes place in the first six months, but it doesn’t yield a lot of visible progress,” Canter said.

“But the fact is that we’re in a really good position, and we’re kind of right where we hoped we would be as we set out.

“The level of investment that we want to ask for here that this is worth, it requires that kind of process. So we feel like we’re on time and on target.”

Also representing Superlative at the meeting were Sean Gallagher, director of corporate partnerships and development, and John Tropf, manager of corporate partnerships.

Canter said the company or organization that secures the naming rights for the park will have a say in and have some restrictions on who other partners could be for some of the “lower-tiered assets.”

“Anybody who’s attaching their name in partnership with the city, there may be sensitivities around other companies that they may have,” he said.

“So you guys (the city) would be in a partnership with that entity who’s going to be paying you a lot of money to name it, and they’ll have a say in how the rest of those partnerships unfold.”

Construction at Solon Community Park, in accordance with the park master plan, began June 24.

The target date to complete Task 1 of Phase 1 of the project is Oct. 31, Kraus said recently.

Task 1 includes renovations to the playground, upgrades to Cisar Field and construction of a community garden.

Task 2 of Phase 1, scheduled for later this year and next year, includes renovations of the parking lot at the park and construction of a maintenance facility and 10 pickleball courts.

Phases 2 and 3, slated for 2026 and beyond, include renovation of youth fields and recreation fields and construction of bocce courts and a competition swimming pool.

The contractor is Mammoth Sports Construction, based in Meriden, Kansas.

“Obviously, this is a super important project that we’re doing for our community,” Vice Mayor and Ward 5 Councilwoman Nancy Meany said.

“We, council and the administration, are very vested in doing the very best we can with our Community Park, and part of that is about doing naming rights.

“You (Superlative) were hired to help us expedite and see if we could get some of our large companies or small companies to maybe step up to the plate and be involved with naming rights.”

‘We’re making progress’

Canter said he understands that council has made an investment in Superlative and wants to see results.

“They’re coming,” he said. “We had some solid meetings just this week, actually. We’re making progress.

“We’ve had a handful of declines, but those are declines to name the entire park. I think when we get into some of the secondary opportunities, all those comments come back into play.”

Timing is also important, Canter said.

“I can’t tell you how many times we’ve sold to a partner who’s said, ‘Look, we can’t be involved, it’s not the right time, it’s not of interest to us, whatever,’” he said.

“And then, whether it’s a leadership change or a shift in focus, a shift in budget, a shift in the economy, any of those things, they come back and they do get involved.

“So we’re outlining those declines. We don’t view any decline as a hard decline, and we’ll certainly be going back to everybody.”

Canter said from a financial perspective, if Superlative sells everything else on its list for naming rights and sponsorship valuations related to the park – including what he called the “secondary assets” – it still doesn’t add up to what the park naming rights partnership is worth.

“Once you sell that, there’s an announcement, there’s a partnership in place, and the corporate community and the business community see, ‘OK, this is happening,’ and it becomes very real for everybody,” he said.

“It’s just a big kind of momentum shift.”

Ward 3 Councilman Jeremy Zelwin said a recent conversation with Superlative representatives helped him understand more clearly how the firm is approaching the naming rights process.

“It’s not like we’re selling the naming rights to the varsity baseball field (Cisar Field) and the pickleball courts,” he said.

Zelwin said Superlative is likely not going to get involved with such items as selling seats or plaques at the varsity baseball field, or park benches or bricks.

Rich Parker, the city’s director of recreation, said the department does have some plans specific to Cisar Field, related to seats and banners.

“It’s essentially ready to roll out; those things are in place,” he said.

“There are a few other areas throughout the park that Mammoth, which is doing the construction, has identified as opportunities (for sponsorships), such as the entryway, and as those opportunities come up as we plan for the design, we’ll create a plan around those.

“But yes, we have some areas where the community will be able to sort of invest in the project.”

Meany said some residents have approached her about wanting to make a donation for the park in memory of a family member.

Those people should contact Angee Shaker, the city’s director of economic development, she said.

Zelwin said there could possibly be naming rights available for the new playground – in addition to it being named Sebastian’s Playground – “so that everyone’s able to make the donations they want and get the recognition that it deserves.”

The new playground at the park is being named after Sebastian Botirius, a Solon boy who died of a rare genetic disorder at age 4 in 2022.

After his death, Sebastian’s parents, Kip Botirius and Kelly Baylog, started a fundraising campaign to create a playground at the park that would accommodate all children.

The playground will feature equipment and a design that will make it usable by children who have disabilities.

What’s the timeline?

Meany asked Canter what Superlative’s timeline is.

“It’s important because I’d like to know how much is going to be there to help offset the expense of the park,” she said.

“Phase 2 is coming, and we have to allocate the funds, and it would be really helpful to know how we’re looking on that end.”

Canter replied, “I feel fairly confident that by the end of the year or the end of January, we’ll have a good sense of where we are.”

Ward 4 Councilman Mike Kan asked, “How big is your pond to try to catch that big fish for the park? Is it a local, regional, state or national search?”

Canter said Superlative is “pretty focused regionally.”

“I would say we’ve called on 150 companies so far,” he said. “Our focus is really on the naming partnerships that would be kind of multi-year commitments.

“I think the range on the playground is $10,000 to $20,000 a year for 10 years.”

Meany asked how it will be addressed as far as parts of the park that already have been named for people.

“We have something like that which we’re going to execute at Cisar Field with dual names, so we’ll be doing some dual names,” Kraus said.

“You honor the past, and you honor the present and the future as well.”

Kraus said families generally are supportive of having dual names “because a lot of times they know each other and they’re friends.”

“You don’t want to take away a name or a plaque or someone associated with it,” he said. “But then if someone donates a lot of money, you want to be able to have a dual naming.”

Kan asked what other naming rights Superlative has secured locally.

Canter said Superlative handled the naming rights deal for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s HealthLine, with the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals, and the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland.

“Last year, we did the naming rights for the new college of business building at Kent State,” he said. “That just opened two weeks ago.”

That building has been named the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship.

“Within the state, we did the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati,” Canter said. “When Great American Ballpark was sold, we did that for the Reds.”

The Superlative Group is a global leader in naming rights and sponsorship valuation, sales and consulting, according to its website. It was founded in 1994.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint, so let’s settle in,” Kraus said.

“Over the last month or two, Rich (Parker), Angee (Shaker) and I have seen huge progress with some major companies firsthand.

“Not only that, but a lot of other positive signs that we’ve seen. It’s really been a fantastic partnership.”