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The SoccerPlex will offer 22 well-kept playing fields, a soccer haven for enthusiasts from across the Washington region, and something more: a potential marketing vehicle.

The nonprofit Maryland Soccer Foundation, which will manage the SoccerPlex under a partnership with Montgomery County, plans to sell not only the name for the whole complex, but also the rights to each field. An indoor sports facility on the site already has been named for Bethesda-based media giant Discovery Communications, which provided $1 million toward the project.

This kind of an arrangement is no longer the exception. Across the country, more local and regional facilities like the SoccerPlex are following the example of professional sports, where seemingly every new stadium bears a corporate signature. Many local and state governments view naming rights as a way to help pay for big projects instead of dipping further into tax coffers.

"It's something that has just taken off," said Dennis Howard, a professor of sports marketing at the University of Oregon who is an expert in stadium financing. "It started in major markets first, but the trickle-down effect has been amazing."

The trend is not limited to sports. From Virginia to California, convention centers and amphitheaters--even libraries--have sold naming rights. In some states, high schools have put corporate names on their sports facilities.

Already, Washingtonians attend events at MCI Center, FedEx Field and USAirways Arena--and some venture to Baltimore's PSINet Stadium.

Earlier this year, the University of Maryland reached a $20 million deal with Comcast Corp. that will emblazon the Philadelphia-based communications company's name on the Terrapins' new arena in College Park for the next quarter-century, one of the richest naming deals in collegiate sports history.

The Montgomery County Council last month approved funding for the $89 million concert venue at Strathmore Hall and agreed with the Strathmore Hall Foundation, the nonprofit organization that will run the facility, that the name should be sold.

Eliot Pfanstiehl, Strathmore's executive director, said the organization is hoping to bring in a "naming gift" of about $15 million for the concert hall and education center at Strathmore, most likely from an individual donor, but possibly from a corporation. The gift would be good for the facility's lifetime, though Pfanstiehl said other offers would be considered.

Pfanstiehl, who is seeking potential donors, said he believes that kind of money is reasonable, not only because the economy is good but because of the concert hall's prestige: The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will play in an architecturally striking building that could well become a Montgomery County landmark. "As eternity goes, this is a bargain," he said.

The county will own the building. The money would form part of an endowment for the concert hall and be used to pay operating costs.

Howard dates the naming-rights trend to 1973, when many die-hard football fans in Buffalo, N.Y., were dismayed to learn that their beloved Bills would be playing in a stadium named after Rich Products, a locally based food company.

It was a 25-year deal for what now seems like a paltry $1.5 million, or $60,000 a year.

"Back then, it was the source of a lot of controversy," Howard said. "Now, the practice is so commonplace that most people just view it as part of the landscape. The vast majority of folks do not see this as an issue or a problem."

James Twitchell, a University of Florida English professor and author of books on advertising and pop culture, said the naming rights trend is part of the growing proliferation of advertising in society. He calls it "adcreep."

"It was only a matter of time before we moved from advertising in print and broadcast media to advertising in physical media," he said. Twitchell said schools are a favorite target of advertisers eager to get their message out to young audiences just forming their buying preferences, and that is one aspect of the trend that troubles him. "It's only a matter of time before you get, say, the Coca-Cola School of whatever."

Not everyone has bought into the concept. The Washington Convention Authority, for example, has decided to forgo--for now, at least--selling the naming rights to the city's new convention center, which is under construction. Officials said the facility could have netted a naming deal worth at least $60 million from corporate interests.

"We're the nation's capital, it just wouldn't fly to have a company name on our new convention center," said authority spokesman Tony Robinson, who said it will be called the Washington Convention Center.

In Maryland, one strong critic has been state Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George's), who in 1998 introduced a bill, which did not pass, that would have prohibited the state's colleges from putting corporate names on their facilities.

Pinsky said he believes the sale of naming rights on campus is a particularly worrisome trend. "It's putting the state university's educational imprimatur on a product," he said.

"The marketing of our society has obviously gotten out of hand. Everything is a product endorsement."

Yet others in the Prince George's delegation are enthusiastic backers of naming rights. Democratic Del. Dereck Davis introduced legislation that would have allowed the county executive to sell naming rights to athletic facilities on county property so that the money could be used for education spending. The bill failed this year, but Davis said he plans to try again next year.

"We're hearing more and more, as a government, that we need to do more with less," Davis said. "Citizens expect us to exhaust every other revenue possibility instead of looking at taxes."

Last week, Prince George's County Executive Wayne K. Curry (D) said he supports the concept of selling naming rights to the county's athletic and entertainment facilities. "It's a good idea, and something we intend to pursue," he said.

Analysts who research corporate sponsorships believe the trend will continue to grow. Cindy Shevrovich, senior executive vice president at Michigan-based Joyce Julius & Associates Inc., said she expects growth will be strong for regional facilities such as convention centers or minor-league stadiums.

Shevrovich estimates that corporations that sponsor regional facilities receive the annual equivalent of several million dollars in traditional advertising, thanks to mentions in print and broadcast coverage and the notice of visitors to these venues.

Jaye Gamble, Comcast's regional vice president for the Washington area and Virginia, said the deal with the University of Maryland is a good marketing fit for his company, which is aggressively expanding as a cable provider in the region. The deal gives Comcast immediate exposure to tens of thousands of potential subscribers on campus in College Park and in the surrounding communities.

Gamble points out, however, that the naming-rights trend is growing because governments benefit, too. The SoccerPlex, for example, likely would not have been built without the private-sector involvement.

The complex is scheduled to open in October at South Germantown Recreational Park. Foundation officials hope that naming rights to the fields--as well as other corporate sponsorship deals--will raise more than $9 million. Discovery Communications' $1 million contribution bought the naming rights to the indoor Discovery Sports Center for five years.

"We're in the market and we're talking to all sorts of potential sponsors," said Trisha Heffelfinger, executive director of the Maryland Soccer Foundation, who declined to put a price tag on the naming rights per field. She said the facility should be attractive to potential sponsors.

"We anticipate we will draw about 500,000 people to the SoccerPlex annually," she said. "That's a lot of eyeballs."

Naming Rights

The following are some projects in the region that have sold, or are looking to sell, their naming rights.

MCI Center, Washington

Named in 1997

* $44 million for 13 years

FedEx Field, Prince George's County

Named in 1999

* $205 million for 27 years

PSINet Stadium, Baltimore

Named in 1999

* $105.5 million for 20 years

Montgomery County SoccerPlex

Scheduled to open in October

Already named:

Indoor facility named Discovery Sports Center

* $1 million for five years.

Yet to be named:

22 fields, plus entire complex

* Seeking more than $9 million in naming rights and sponsorships.

Comcast Center, U of Md.-College Park

Scheduled to open in 2002

* $20 million for 25 years

Concert hall and arts education center at Strathmore, Montgomery County

Yet to be named, scheduled to open in 2004

* Seeking a naming gift of approximately $15 million.