Nike, Adidas compete for naming rights for small park in Tokyo

Sporting gear makers Nike and Adidas are competing for the naming rights of a small park in Shibuya, Weekly Playboy (Oct 27) reports. The Shibuya Ward government apparently sees a gold mine from corporate sponsors to improve its public facilities, the magazine says.

“They are competing over Miyashita Park just between JR Harajuku and Shibuya stations. But there is a movement that opposes Japan's privatization of parks,” an owner of a neighboring pub tells the magazine. Shibuya Ward is currently calling it “Sports Park” while it seeks private investment.

A spokesperson for the ward office says, “It's now quite a common policy to offer naming rights for public facilities and transportation. That enables us to improve our public facilities without using taxpayers' money. We sold the naming rights of Shibuya Kokaido hall in 2006 to a beverage company.” Now, the hall is named C.C. Lemon Hall, after the Suntory beverage. Weekly Playboy says Suntory paid 420 million yen for 5-year use of the name.

Although some other companies have applied for the right to name Miyashita Park, the battle is between Nike and Adidas, a Shibuya council member tells Weekly Playboy. "Because its location is great, the cost is going to be much higher than what Suntory paid for C.C. Lemon Hall.”

The plan sounds nice for Shibuya Ward but locals fear the negative influence of the deal. A college student who uses the futsal court in the park tells Weekly Playboy: “I think if a private company buys the park, it will have to improve the park's facilities. If that happens, maintenance costs will be necessary, which may mean we have to pay more." Currently, the charge for using the futsal court in the morning is 4,000 yen per hour.

“If the park is owned by a company, we will be kicked out because we will destroy its brand image,” laments a homeless man, one of many living in the park. “They should think about us. Where will we go?”

Meanwhile, The Coalition to Protect Miyashita Park from Becoming Nike Park, a group of people who oppose the deal, has launched its website to publicize its campaign. It says in a statement that “A public park, which should be open to everybody, is now becoming a commercial space for a private company. People, except the rich, will be excluded from the park. Shibuya Ward is proceeding with the deal without taking into account how locals feel about it. That is wrong.”

Contacted by Weekly Playboy, a Nike spokesperson said, “We have no comment," while an Adidas spokesperson said, "We don't see any problem with the idea."

Weekly Playboy says the two companies should declare that they will open the park to everyone for free and that charges for facilities will be lower, if one of them acquires the naming rights. The magazine points out such a plan would be good for their brand image as a company that is "friendly to the people."

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