Florida Panthers executive Michael Yormark still remembers the letter he received a few years ago from a woman thanking the NHL club for the nice surprise she received prior to a concert at BankAtlantic Center. The woman had flown back home to South Florida after a business trip and planned to meet her husband before the show at the suburban Fort Lauderdale arena.

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One problem: She was running late and thought she might miss her husband by having to park and walk a long distance from the arena. The woman drove a Lexus.

A parking attendant informed her to go to the front of the building and fill one of 250 free parking spots reserved for Lexus vehicles. She appreciated the convenience of meeting her husband in time for the show and avoiding a 20-minute walk to the arena, Yormark said.

At a venue with 7,200 parking spaces, that’s a quality perk for Lexus owners. The Lexus parking lot at BankAtlantic Center The Panthers were among the first big league teams to develop a branded parking lot with the luxury automaker, doing so in early 2004. Since then, Turner Field in Atlanta, Target Center in Minneapolis, Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, have done similar deals with Lexus. In most cases, branded lots and garages are part of much larger deals tied to naming rights for the venues and their premium spaces. Those larger deals can range from seven figures annually in Orlando to about $700,000 per year in Memphis. At Cowboys Stadium, longtime Dallas Cowboys partner Ford has its logo printed on parking lot banners and parking passes. The same is true for five other stadium partners, American Airlines, AT&T, Bank of America, Dr Pepper and Pepsi.

Miller Lite, another team partner, does not have exposure at Cowboys Stadium’s lots because the team did not believe it was appropriate to have the beer company’s sponsorship extend to that piece of inventory, said Greg McElroy, the Cowboys’ senior vice president of sales and marketing. The amenities tied to branded lots and garages depend on the markets. In Philadelphia, Lexus owners pay the prevailing rate for parking but get closer to the building, where arena operator Global Spectrum holds 50 to 60 total spaces for those vehicles, said John Page, Global Spectrum’s chief operating officer. Deb control file cydia ios.

In South Florida, parking fees for Panthers games are bundled into the ticket price for all hockey fans, including the Lexus owners. Concertgoers pay cash at BankAtlantic Center, $15 to $25 depending on the act, but Lexus drivers park for free without having to reach for their wallets. “The key element for us is the VIP parking area for Lexus vehicles,” said Yormark, president and CEO of Sunrise Sports and Entertainment. “They park for free in one of 250 spaces for every event. If 270 show up, we don’t turn people away. We will find a spot close by for them.

In general, it’s the best parking area and most accessible.” In 2003, the year Toyota Center opened for the Houston Rockets, the carmaker’s naming-rights deal extended to the Toyota Tundra Garage, a 2,500-space, seven-story structure attached to the arena with a private skybridge entry for premium seat patrons. Earlier this year, Toyota took over the rights to brand the parking garage at FedEx Forum in Memphis, where it has been a founding partner since the NBA arena opened in 2004.

Ford had stepped away from that deal, although it maintains the parking lot branding at Cowboys Stadium and Prudential Center’s VIP parking deck in Newark, N.J. In Memphis, Toyota had its eyes on the Grizzlies’ garage for the past six years after the auto manufacturer became the club’s second primary sponsor behind FedEx, the shipping firm that holds the arena’s naming rights. “Ford and Toyota were our partners when the building opened and both wanted it,” said Chad Bolen, the Grizzlies’ vice president of corporate sales and service. “Ford moved first, but Toyota told us if Ford ever had a change in strategy, ‘We want to have a shot at it.’” That’s what happened in February. Toyota’s brand is now exposed throughout the garage after the automaker signed a three-year extension to its existing sponsorship. Each of the seven levels in the parking garage is named after a Toyota model and the automaker’s distinct logo is embedded in carpet mats and elevator signs. Outside the garage, a custom-made, retro-style Toyota sign points vehicles to the entrance.