There are a variety of contracts that sports teams enter into aside from player contracts, and players contracts are, for the most part, defined by the collective bargaining agreements. But there are other contracts such as lease agreements with facilities, key sponsorship agreements with vendors, and also short-term contracts to bring other sports or transitory sports into their building.
It’s all about making sure that the facility and the player or the promoter are also able to make money in those contracts and also allow for the fan to enjoy the experience. Sometimes, you will have somebody playing there for just two weeks at a time.
In Houston, for instance, the Houston Texans have a 30-year contract with their stadium, which is Energy Stadium. And they play their full football season there. Whether that building is usable or not, they have what’s called a “hell or high water” lease there. No matter what, they’re actually duty-bound to keep playing in that building.
If the building’s unusable, they can play elsewhere until the building’s fixed. However, they are duty-bound to stay in that stadium for 30 years. It’s a non-relocation agreement and one which teams and venues take very seriously because 30 years is a long time.
They also have another tenant in that building that probably not a lot of people know about. That tenant is the Houston Livestock and Rodeo show. They play there for two weeks, roughly, each year. What they do is a lot of music events and livestock shows, and they use the whole Energy campus—not just the stadium, but also the Astrodome, the Arena Astro Hall, and the Astro Arena.
So during these two weeks each year, the entire property is basically consumed by the Houston Livestock and Rodeo show, and they also have a long-term agreement. But they’re usually using multiple venues within that whole Astro domain. And the entire situation is complex. How they use it, and how they are contracted with their landlord is a complex negotiation but also has a lot to do with how they view their fans using the building as well.
If you pursue online sports management education, you can learn much more about how contracts between venues and teams work as well as a number of global sports and sports management related topics. If you’re interested in a sports management education, there’s no reason you need to wait any longer to get started.
