SoFi Is Close to a Deal Putting Its Name on L.A. Football Stadium

(Bloomberg) -- Social Finance Inc., a financial technology startup, is close to signing a deal that would put its name on a new NFL stadium under construction in Inglewood, California, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The deal for the stadium, which would be home to the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, hasn’t been signed so figures could change. But currently the agreement would have SoFi pay $20 million a year for 20 years, these people added. SoFi’s current Chief Executive Officer, Anthony Noto, is a former National Football League executive and also inked deals related to football during his time at Twitter Inc.

Venues Now and Fox Business reported the news earlier. San Francisco-based SoFi declined to comment.

SoFi has a large marketing budget, which has surpassed $200 million annually for the last few years, as the firm launches new products and seeks to acquire new customers. Last year, SoFi counted more than 500,000 members and made a larger push into mortgage lending as well as its checking and savings product, SoFi Money. Having its name on the stadium of some of the most high-profile teams in the NFL could help boost recognition outside of the financial world.

The NFL deal comes as the firm has recently lost people in the executive ranks, including Chief Marketing Officer Joanne Bradford last month. The company also announced Wednesday that it has closed a new $500 million funding round led by the Qatar Investment Authority, which values the company at $4.8 billion including the latest cash infusion.

To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Verhage in New York at jverhage2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Milian at mmilian@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz, Alistair Barr

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