Nearing completion, new signage for Memorial Stadium can be seen on the Beaumont Independent School District's football stadium. The signage came after a three-year long debate to change the name from the Carrol A. "Butch" Thomas Educational Support Center. The name, Memorial Stadium, was chosen to reflect several schools in the district's history.Photo taken Monday, 1/7/19
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise, Photo Editor

Local businesses may now have an easier shot at purchasing naming rights at Beaumont ISD Memorial Stadium.

Since releasing its last request for proposals for the four naming rights packages in September, the district received interest from about a dozen companies, Beaumont ISD Director of Purchasing Beau Carroll told The Enterprise Wednesday.

But there was one comment that consistently came up -- the upfront cost of the packages was too high, particularly for smaller businesses who were interested in purchasing the rights.

"We were asking for so much upfront that it was really eliminating a lot of people from the conversation and we don't want that," Carroll said. "Obviously, we want to have as many business partners as we can in this deal."

To better accommodate potential buyers, the district on Tuesday released an updated request for proposal for the four naming rights packages, now including annual payment plans.

"Hopefully, doing it this way with spreading (the cost) out evenly over the 10 years will help some smaller businesses participate in this," Carroll said.

The updated request for proposal will be open until 2 p.m. March 31 -- a longer window than was previously offered.

"Last time, it was up for a month," Carroll said. "That was a comment that we got, too -- (for businesses) that had a board of directors, we weren't giving them enough time to really evaluate it and get it before their boards and get a decision."

The interest in the naming rights so far is promising, Carroll said. When the district released its first round of naming rights packages in May, there was little to no interest, prompting the district to go back to the drawing board.

"We were trying to gauge (prices) off some bigger districts and what they had gotten and just rely on the traffic counts on (Interstate 10), because obviously the traffic counts were huge at that location," he said. "We built our initial plan based on traffic counts and not so much the area. And then, based on feedback, we retooled and were like, 'We need to get more realistic about what these sponsorships are worth to local companies.'"

After lowering the package prices, business interest increased and by now adding an annual payment plan option, the district is hoping further business interest will continue to grow.

Carroll emphasized that businesses can submit whatever they believe the packages are worth, even if it's half the price listed by the district.

"Even though there's what we're asking for, somebody can submit half that and it still may be the best offer and we may select it," he said. "The award would go to the best offer based on what the criteria is."

There are six evaluation criteria the district will consider for anyone who submits a proposal:

Revenue it will bring to Beaumont ISD -- 50% consideration
The reputation of the vendor and of the vendor's goods or services -- 20% consideration
Advertising content -- 10% consideration
Entity's proximity to Beaumont ISD -- 10% consideration
If the business is a minority-, woman- or veteran-owned business -- 5% consideration
Length of contract -- 5% consideration

The four bidding packages are as follows:

Package 1: Two sides of the stadium press box and illuminated marquee sign
- For contract of 7 years: $800,000 payable in six annual payments of $115,000 and a final payment of $110,000.
- For contract of 10 years: $1 million payable in 10 annual payments of $100,000
Package 2: Playing field and fieldhouses
- For contract of 7 years: $300,000 payable in six annual payments of $45,000 and one final payment of $30,000
- For contract of 10 years: $350,000 payable in 10 annual payments of $35,000
Package 3: Entry gates (logo only) for gates A, B, C, and D and natatorium (building only)
- For contract of 7 years: $150,000 payable in five annual payments of $30,000
- For contract of 10 years: $200,000 payable in five annual payments of $40,000
Package 4: Scoreboard
- For contract of 10 years: $750,000 payable in 10 annual payments of $75,000

To see the total request for proposal, visit the "Current Bid Opportunities" page under the Purchasing Department at bmtisd.com.

olivia.malick@hearst.com

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