Published by
The Tennessean
Saturday, 10/2/99

Entertainment center helps Gaylord promote its identity

As far as christening events go, this one had it all: fireworks, live music, a laser lightsshow, huge glowing white balloons and a couple of immense torches that blasted plumes of fireinto the air.

Oh! And there was a hockey game, too.

Earlier this week, what was once the Nashville Arena was officially renamed the GaylordEntertainment Center. The company, which paid $80 million for the naming rights, made a point ofusing the evening to point out who it was.

As part of the celebration, most of Gaylord Entertainment's 32 subsidiaries had some sort ofpresence in the arena Tuesday night. Consider it part of Gaylord's new focus on promoting itsidentity.

"We threw a party and a hockey game broke out," said Tom Adkinson, spokesman for GaylordEntertainment Co.

For months now, Gaylord executives have been debating how to package the company. They wantedthe city, the country and the world to know about Gaylord, and about its business.

But three years ago, when the arena was opened, Gaylord was uncertain if it wanted to beknown by the Gaylord name, the company said. It could have gone with "Opryland" or "Grand OleOpry" or variations on that theme.

But the company wanted something related to all aspects of Gaylord Entertainment Co.

When you've got three divisions with 32 sub-corporate interests -- ranging from conventions totravel to music to broadcasting -- creating and establishing an identity can be daunting. Hence,the delay.

Last week, it was apparent that Gaylord had made a decision. It would go with GaylordEntertainment Co. For the record, the $80 million the company paid to put that name on the arenagoes to the Predators, a team that has said it would not have come to Nashville if it weren'tfor the naming rights deal.

So what did Gaylord buy? At the very least, it bought a little corporate cache and a fertileadvertising vehicle.

Consider some of the other corporate-sport sponsorships: In Boston, fans know that theCeltics and the Bruins play in the Fleet Center, an arena named for Boston-based Fleet Bank. InDenver, the Colorado Rockies play in Coors Stadium. And in Baltimore, the Ravens are at home inPSI Stadium, named for PSINet, an Internet service provider from Herndon, Va.

And in San Diego, a communications company called Qualcomm Inc. put its name on the side of asports stadium. Last October, during the Padre's World Series play there, Qualcomm picked up alot of name recognition. At the time, shares of the public company were trading around $20.

The Super Bowl was played in the same stadium last January. Today, Qualcomm's stock is uparound $186 a share.

Gaylord is betting on some of the same success and there is plenty of opportunity. The arenais expected to host 100 events annually, including 42 Predators home games. Each event is a shotat getting the Gaylord name before a new audience.

As for Tuesday's event, it went like this: outside the arena, Gaylord Entertainment hosted alive concert. Inside, it lined the corridors with booths from many of its operations.

Examples included Acuff-Rose Music Publishing, Country Music Television International,General Jackson Showboat, the Opryland Hotel, Opryland Travel, Ryman Auditorium, SpringhouseGolf Club, the Wildhorse Saloon, WSM Radio, Word Entertainment, and Z-Music Television.

"We like to say we're everything from Acuff-Rose to Z-Music Television," said Joe Crace,chief operating officer for Gaylord Entertainment Co.

Inside the arena, the show kicked off with laser lights, pyrotechnics and a Predators video.Next came a live concert by Michael W. Smith, a Christian rocker with ties to Gaylord. Later,singers Amy Grant, Vince Gill and Little Jimmy Dickens gathered at center ice for the droppingof the ceremonial puck.

As for the actual sporting event, the Predators defeated the Atlanta Thrashers in the finalgame of the preseason, 2-0.

Michael Scully covers the business of entertainment and tourism for The Tennessean. He can bereached at 259-8284.