ANALYSIS:
Each of these items present both positive and potential negative implications and as such, staff has since met to discuss the items in detail. Discussions included potential legal, planning and historic preservation implications. Each option is expanded further below.
ADVERTISING ON THE EXTERIOR OF TROLLEYS:
Previously, on the temporary Alton/West Trolley, advertising was sold by the city’s development coordinator. Each trolley garnered $2,150 per month in revenue or $78,000 per year for 3 trolleys.
Upon the launch of the North Beach trolley system, staff met with companies to discuss the options to place advertising on these trolleys. Discussions were held with Outfront Media, the company that manages the advertising on the City of Miami trolley system, and ultimately it was decided that, due to many regulations and restrictions such as limitations on type of advertiser, location of ads and advertising content, that they would not move forward with the sale of advertising.
The City now has 25 trolleys that operate city-wide. Upon implementation of these trolleys, staff was given direction to create a cohesive branding for the trolleys and no longer allow advertising on them. Thus, a design was adopted by Commission and all trolleys have a similar design that showcases the different iconic lifeguard stands throughout the City.
SPONSORSHIPS THROUGHOUT THE CITY
In 2007 the City hired a consultant to do a thorough assessment and inventory of all possible sponsorships throughout the City as well as possible revenue amounts for each item. After the completion of the assessment, the consultant was retained to begin the sales of these sponsorships, in addition to the sponsorship sales that were managed by the city’s development coordinator. The consultant focused on larger sponsorships and brought in the current contract between the City and Coca-Cola while the development coordinator focused on individual event sponsorships and advertising in MB Magazine.
The Coca-Cola contract currently generates $325,000 per year in cash as well as $60,000 in in-kind revenue and 450 cases of free product per year. The free product is used for city events such as the Veterans Day Parade, Fire on the Fourth as well as donated to outside events such as Art Deco Weekend. The contract was originally signed for a total of 10 years and will be up for renewal option in 2022.
The contract expired with the sponsorship consultant, was not renewed and the City’s development coordinator continued selling advertising and sponsorships for the City. Since the inventory was completed, the internal sponsorship and advertising position has drastically increased the total alternative revenue being generated for the City with totals of both cash and in-kind now reaching $1 Million per year. Some of the items included in this total are event sponsorships such as Fire on the Fourth, Veterans Day Parade, Family Service Day, Parks and Recreation sponsorships and advertising sold in the MB Magazine.
MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION CENTER NAMING RIGHTS
Many large parks and convention centers throughout the country utilize naming rights revenue to provide alternative revenue. The following chart shows some arenas and convention centers that have previously garnered naming rights revenue for their facilities. The newly renovated Convention Center would be a candidate for such option.
Staff met to discuss the possibilities of naming rights and what may need to be done to allow this. During the discussion, it was mentioned that, per the current City Code, the naming of the MBCC may have to go to referendum.
ADVERTISING ON THE EXTERIOR OF PARKING GARAGES/FLEET BUILDING
Exterior advertising in the City of Miami Beach is controlled through various areas including our City Code, County Code and FDOT regulations. Therefore, there have not been many instances of this type of advertisement throughout the City. Due to this, staff met internally to discuss what would need to be done if direction was given by commission to begin allowing it. Staff also met with representatives from the companies that began the City of Miami exterior advertising program.
The Marketing and Communications team purchased various wallscapes and billboards in the City of Miami to advertise certain programs. Based on this, we are aware that a wallscape in midtown can cost around $30,000 per month or $360,000 per year/per sign.
During discussions with the City’s legal team and planning department, various obstacles were mentioned that would need to be addressed to allow for this type of advertising throughout the City. The Planning Department provided the following feedback regarding this type of signage:
- Legal Implications: Collectively both Planning and Legal have a major concern that allowing ads on City garages will result in a court challenge that forces the City to allow these ads on private buildings. Under our LDR’s, General Advertising is prohibited City Wide, with some very limited exceptions on Public ROW (Per Chapter 82). The more we chip away at the foundation of this prohibition, the more likely that it could crumble. Additionally, we have been very successful at preventing advertising barges in our territorial waters. Allowing large ads on the backside of the fleet management could jeopardize that as well. Additionally, if these types of ads were allowed on private buildings, we would have no way of controlling the content.
- Architecture of Individual Garage Structures: Virtually all of our parking structures in the City (both public and private) each have a unique and distinct architectural identity. NONE were designed in a manner that could accommodate large advertising banners. The introduction of these large advertisements would significantly impair the architectural integrity of the garages. In furtherance of this, attached is a short piece, published in 2011, entitled "BEEN THERE HAVEN'T DONE THAT Miami's Beached Cars". It nicely and succinctly summarizes the architectural value of the City's parking structures.
- Visual Blight and Urban Design Standards: Citywide, Miami Beach is a very unique concentration of well-planned and cohesive architectural forms. We have architectural representation from numerous eras both inside and outside of our historic districts. The introduction of large ads on parking structures will significantly compromise this carefully balanced urban form.