• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, February 3, 2011

Just another day in Los Angeles where the entertainment cart comes before the horse -- and the road as well.

Longtime L.A.-based Farmers Insurance inked a $700 million, 30-year naming-rights deal with the big sports arena/promotional group Anschutz Entertainment Group for a new NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles.

Trouble is, Los Angeles doesn't have definite plans for that stadium -- nor a football team yet.

We get the gist: Get the money in your pocket, then go to city officials in the hope of getting the environmental clearances necessary, and send a signal to the NFL that L.A. has the business wherewithal to take on a team again.

This is not new for either the entertainment or sports business world in Los Angeles -- and Hollywood. High-profile producers and talent sometimes lead television shows and theatrical movies around by the nose -- even with no script (or just a weak idea of a script) attached.

Almost a decade and a half since the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis, the big entertainment-producing capital of Los Angeles hasn't gotten its act together when it comes bringing back the biggest sports franchise in the U.S -- the NFL. Yet, even without the second biggest market in the U.S., the league is the strongest it has ever been -- and possibly why Farmers Insurance felt comfortable jumping in this way.

Still, the move by Farmers Insurance/AEG has me wondering if proposed high-profile TV shows might take a marketing/sponsorship note from this. What if Procter & Gamble, Verizon, Unilever, or another major TV advertiser plunked down tens of millions of dollars for a ongoing TV series that didn't yet have a home --- just because they really believed in it and had great producers and talent behind it?

Yes, we know the way traditional TV programming and advertising markets move -- first the TV program, then advertising support.

But many older stalwart TV advertisers increasingly desire something else -- especially in this rating-scattered TV environment. Many big marketers are already investing small amounts in script development of TV shows through the Association of National Advertisers' Alliance for Family Entertainment. What if they made a real big commitment?

Surely, that would send a message to TV networks about the project's long-term commitment -- which could include big-time marketing, usually a key lacking ingredient for many struggling TV shows.

All this may be an apples-and-oranges comparison. But TV business formulas need to be revamped in a big way, as does how they play the game

Correction: Today's Video Insider at first inaccurately cited the network airing the Super Bowl. Yes, it's Fox, not CBS.