Updated 3:20 pm: Just as the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland could be losing its name, the whole mall might get a new one. A legal tussle has revealed that H&H owner CIM Group has been looking to sell the naming rights to the Ugliest Building in LA (which includes more than 75 stores and restaurants, plus the Kodak and the Chinese Theatre). According to the LA Business Journal (sub. req.), "in 2010, there were around a half-dozen major corporations that showed interest in putting their name on Hollywood & Highland, [former naming rights consultant Dean] Bonham told the Business Journal. CIM continued to reach out to some of them until at least last summer. None of those was based in Los Angeles, though at least one was a California company." Bonham (who negotiated SD's Petco Park) says the sponsorship deal "could easily be worth millions of dollars a year." Meanwhile, Eastman Kodak, which owns naming rights to, duh, the Kodak Theatre (home of the Oscars, for now), recently filed for bankruptcy and could lose or cancel its sponsorship. UPDATE: A new filing shows that Eastman Kodak wants to end its naming rights deal at the Kodak Theatre. It will request a release from the $75 million, 20 year deal that it signed in 2000, according to the LABJ.
CIM originally hired Bonham in 2010, but he says "he was prevented from talking" to potential sponsors and that he argued with the developers over valuation and leads. Their fight went to arbitration (Bonham lost) and then federal court (where no decision's been made yet). CIM is now working with Santa Monica-based Premier Partnerships Inc. H&H via Destination360
· Retail Star on Hollywood Looking for Stage Name (sub. req.) [LA Business Journal]
· Hollywood's Kodak Theatre Could Lose Name, Oscars [Curbed LA]
Loading comments...