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Citizen’s Financial Buys Naming Rights for Youth Soccer Complex

Citizens Financial Group, which reportedly paid $95 million for a 25-year deal for naming rights of the Philadelphia Phillies’ stadium, has ponied up for naming rights of another kind: It will pay for a new youth soccer complex on its home turf in the tiny town of Lancaster, Mass.

Citizen’s calls the deal “a great economic investment,” writes MediaPost. The deal is expected to have a large economic impact on the area, according to a Citizen’s spokesperson, who said that the company sees the move not as an extension of marketing but as “an investment in the communities where we do business.”

Massachusetts youth soccer players travel as far as Virginia and Florida to play in tournaments; once Citizens Bank Fields open in September, large tournaments will be staged there as well, and could generate an additional $5-6 million in new revenue to the area.

A few years ago, Citizens gave away soccer balls with the bank’s logo to Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association players. The MYSA, the second-largest youth soccer organization in the country, has 185,000 registered players.