Snapshot of the 'Farmers' in Farmers Field

It's not surprising that so little has been written about the L.A.-based insurer that's committed $700 million over 30 years for naming rights to the proposed downtown stadium. While Farmers is the nation's third-largest insurance company and serves over 15 million customers in 41 states, it is owned by an even larger company, Zurich Financial, which means that it doesn't receive all that much scrutiny. And let's face it, this insurance, the nightmare beat for any business journalist with a pulse. That said, Farmers is a big deal for Zurich (which also owns 21st Century). Among some tidbits:

--Basics: Farmers provides auto, home, and life insurance in addition to a variety of financial services.

--History: Company was founded in 1927 by John Tyler and Thomas Leavey, who believed that farmers and ranchers had better driving rates than folks in the cities and therefore deserved lower insurance premiums.

--Structure: Farmers is actually a holding company for reciprocal insurance exchanges (I warned you). Basically, these are companies whose members exchange contracts of insurance. Each member, or subscriber, contributes to pay for the losses of other subscribers.

--Financials: Operating profit in 2009 was $1.5 billion, up 15 percent from a year earlier.

--Customer satisfaction: So-so: Consumer Reports ranked its auto insurance coverage fifth from the bottom of 22 companies surveyed. It received three out of five points in a J.D. Power survey of customers. Delayed payments on claims have been a frequent complaint.

--Litigation: Last fall, Farmers agreed to pay $455 million to 13 million current and former policyholders to settle a 2003 lawsuit that accused them of charging excessive fees to customers. Farmers CEO Robert Woudstra said the company settled rather than prolong a lengthy legal battle.

--Other litigation: In 2008, Farmers was ordered to pay $2.5 million for handling a claim with bad faith. The original punitive damages award was $20 million.

--Leadership: The main man these days is Jeff Dailey, who recently was named president and chief operating officer and who will become CEO when Robert Woudstra retires at the end of the year. Dailey started out as a claims adjuster.

During this week's love-fest with AEG, the mayor, Magic Johnson, and other assorted L.A. honchos, the Farmers people stuck to their scripts about how the investment is a chance to be part of the downtown revitalization. I'm sure there's a more interesting explanation, but these insurance guys plays it pretty close to the vest - at least they have so far. No matter what happens, the naming rights deal works out quite well for Farmers, which has had limited media exposure over the years. If the thing doesn't get built, well, no harm, no foul. If it does get built, the branding becomes very valuable. As for the money, $700 million sounds like a lot, but remember it's spread out over 30 years. From the Sporting News:

"More than anything, this is a national stage for us," [said Chief Marketing Officer] Kevin Kelso. "This is going to put Farmers up as a brand and get exposure at a really high level, and that's very attractive to us. ... Having our name associated with this will give us a TiVo-proof exposure opportunity." GroupM ESP advised Farmers on the deal. Greg Luckman, CEO of the marketing consultancy, said the popularity of the NFL and the value of returning a team to Los Angeles makes L.A. naming-rights "an incredibly valuable deal and a breakthrough idea, even in a increasingly competitive and marketing-intensive category, like insurance."