ST. PETERSBURG — It isn't unusual for buildings to be named in tribute to their financial benefactors.

Increasingly, though, companies are eager to pay large sums to have their names displayed on sports stadiums, other facilities and even portions of public spaces.

St. Petersburg hopes to solicit naming rights — and rake in revenue for the privilege — for selected areas of its new 26-acre Pier District expected to open in 2019.

By then, the Mahaffey Theater at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts will have added at least one corporate name to its space. In an agreement approved by the City Council this month, patrons will drive into what will be called the Crown Cars Parking Garage.

Other spaces at the Mahaffey suggested as possible candidates for sponsorships include its main hall, box office, lower and upper atriums, grand ballroom and what is referred to as the tree bosque, a shady area with benches and twinkling lights just outside the theater and the Salvador Dali Museum's main entrance.

Bill Sutton, professor at the University of South Florida Muma College of Business, said the concept of naming rights has been around for some time.

"It's a very good way of creating a situation where there is money coming in over a long term and that can help create sustainability for the building, for the program, whatever it may be," said Sutton, director of the business school's Vinik Sport and Entertainment Management Program.

"It's a very fiscally responsible way to behave. Some of the money can be allocated to capital improvements, so it won't have to come out of the public purse," he said.

The revenue can also be used to meet other needs or fund other projects, Sutton said, adding that most agreements are for at least 20 years.

The city of St. Petersburg made one such long-term deal with Progress Energy, now Duke Energy, in 2006. The 20-year agreement encompasses the entire city-owned downtown property that includes the Mahaffey Theater, the Salvador Dali Museum — which has a 99-year ground lease with the city — and the Center for the Arts Plaza between the Dali and the Mahaffey. It's a $6.3 million deal.

Big 3 Entertainment, which manages the Mahaffey Theater, has made a five-year naming rights agreement with Crown Automotive Management. Crown would pay a total of $365,000 to put its name on the theater's garage, along with a one-time $40,000 fee to cover the manufacture and installation of the signs.

Big 3's contract with St. Petersburg gives the company the right to sell naming rights for spaces at the Mahaffey, with the city sharing a portion of the income. Big 3 will get the first $250,000, with the next $75,000 going to the city. Anything over $325,000 will be split evenly.

"I think it's a good, win-win solution for everybody," said Chris Ballestra, the city's managing director of development coordination.

He praised Big 3 for "both controlling and reducing" the city's subsidy at the Mahaffey, telling the council that the company has provided "a substantial reduction" in the subsidy over the seven years it has had the management contract.

The city chose Big 3 to manage the Mahaffey in 2011, passing over Ruth Eckerd and the theater's previous manager, SMG, for the job. Big 3 and the Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer team are both owned by local entrepreneur Bill Edwards.

In 2016, St. Petersburg and Big 3 signed a new agreement that "broke some new ground," Alan DeLisle, the city's development administrator, told council members.

"The risk of the theater, the financial risk, is with the operator now, not with the city," he said. "In return, we gave them more flexibility with their management and we allowed them to move forward with specific naming rights within and outside the theater."

He said that in 2016, the city projected subsidies at the Mahaffey would be "somewhere between $288,000 and $513,000," a forecast based on two factors.

One was the prospect of being able to sell naming rights and the other was the inclusion in the new contract of an incentive payment Big 3 could earn based on "top acts," DeLisle said.

The past year brought what he referred to as a "record breaking" low subsidy of $321,000. In 2011, the year Big 3 took over, the subsidy was $1 million, and except for one year since, has continued to fall.

DeLisle is optimistic that the subsidy will drop even further as the naming rights effort gains momentum.

"We've been a little bit behind this opportunity" he said, mentioning his experience establishing the naming rights program for the performing arts center in Durham, N.C., where he had been assistant city manager for economic and workforce development.

DeLisle is also orchestrating a naming rights push for the Pier District, a project now carrying a price tag of $76 million.

Sports & Properties, Inc. of Raleigh, N.C., has been chosen to evaluate the district and its potential for naming rights.

"If approved by the mayor and City Council, that information will be used to determine whether to go forward," DeLisle said.

The city will pay the company $30,000 plus travel for this first step.

Contact Waveney Ann Moore at wmoore@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2283. Follow @wmooretimes.