The Penguins' new arena now has a name -- Consol Energy Center. But that doesn't mean that other companies won't have plenty of chances to leave their mark on parts of the $321 million complex.

For a fee, of course.

In what is one of the latest moneymaking trends in the sports industry, the team is exploring the idea of offering partnerships to companies to display their names on parts of the arena.

"We're looking into the possibility of having founding partners that would be our sponsors in specific areas within the new building," Penguins President David Morehouse said.

The partnerships, or founding sponsorships, as they are sometimes called, are sort of mini-naming-rights deals in themselves, but apply to specific areas, not the arena as a whole.

"It's become a common practice. The reason is because you can give a lot of visibility in certain sections to a single sponsor," said Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based Sportscorp Ltd., an industry consultant.

In the case of the Penguins, they may offer companies the chance to splash their names on entrance plazas, concourses, suite levels, restaurants, clubs, conference centers, seating sections and "multiple other possibilities," Mr. Morehouse said.

The deals typically are shorter in length than traditional naming rights agreements and usually don't pay as much money individually. But collectively they can generate more each year than the building's naming rights.

That's the case at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, where the Colts negotiated founding partnerships with 14 companies totaling $10 million to $12 million a year. That's more than the $6 million a year Lucas is paying the team for naming rights to the stadium.

All but one of the 14 partners in the $720 million stadium were existing sponsors. The deals run five to eight years and include gates, corners, suite levels, club lounges and other stadium real estate. Anheuser-Busch, for example, owns rights to a 15,300-square-foot open platform with concession stands dubbed the Bud Light Blue Zone.

Kansas City's Sprint Center, which courted the Penguins during negotiations over the new Pittsburgh arena, has nine founding partners. One is UMB Bank, which has the only ATMs in the arena.

The New Jersey Nets last May signed six founding partners for their proposed Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn, which has been plagued by delays. The agreements go five to 10 years and are worth $1.5 million to $5 million annually. Combined, they represent more than $100 million in commitments, far more than the $20 million a year Barclays PLC, a global financial provider, will pay for naming rights.

For the teams, the deals offer another profit center and cash stream to pay players. The Penguins have long argued that they needed a new arena with more suites and other amenities to stay competitive in the National Hockey League.

On the other side, the agreements provide companies a chance to get lots of face time, so to speak, in the venue without the long-term commitment and expense of a naming rights deal, said Rob Vogel, president of the Bonham Group, a Denver-based sports marketing company that helped the Penguins evaluate corporate bidders for the arena naming rights.

"Some people don't have the wherewithal to get to a naming level. [A partnership] provides another great opportunity to have a great association with the team but in a more manageable way from a budget perspective," Mr. Vogel said.

A small-market club like the Penguins won't command the kind of money the Nets got, but the partnerships typically generate six to seven figures a year, experts said.

Mr. Morehouse said the Penguins haven't started to talk to companies about founding partnerships yet, but they expect to do so next year.

"For people who may not have wanted a long-term or expensive [naming] deal, this is an opportunity to be associated with one of the strongest brands in the region and also in a new building that's going to be used 150 days a year or more. They'll have a permanent presence," he said.

The team had discussed naming rights with five to six companies, and at least some of those conceivably could be partnership candidates.

In Pittsburgh, the Steelers may have been one of the forerunners in founding partnership ventures. In addition to locking up naming rights with Heinz, the team in 2001 made a deal with Coca-Cola to sponsor the Great Hall, a 35,000-square-foot hall of fame filled with photos, jerseys, and other memorabilia from Steelers history. The value was not disclosed.

The Pirates reached agreement in 2006 with Pittsburgh area Lexus dealers to rename the premium seating area directly behind home plate the "Lexus Club at PNC Park." Terms weren't divulged.

Consol secured the naming rights for the new arena for 21 years. No financial terms were disclosed but Mr. Ganis estimated that the team will receive at least $2 million a year and perhaps twice that much from the company.

The naming rights and founding partnerships would be in addition to dasher board, scoreboard and LED board advertising throughout the new facility. For that advertising, the Penguins are planning to offer "moments of exclusivity" in which the scoreboard and all arena TVs and LED boards will be broadcasting the same message.