Long Beach could be the first city in Los Angeles County to be brought to you by a phone company. Or a car dealership. Or, for that matter, a soft drink.

While cities frequently seek sponsorships for specific programs and many well-known buildings bear corporate names – think Staples Center and the Nokia Theatre – only a handful of municipalities have simply endorsed products for cash.

One of them is San Diego, which several years ago named Pepsi its official drink.

To possibly get a piece of that action, Long Beach has instructed its city manager to look into the feasibility – and potential income – from product endorsements. The city is facing an $18.5 million deficit.

“We’re looking under any stone for revenue enhancement at this time,” said City Councilman Patrick O’Donnell, who along with Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske proposed the idea.

San Diego dealt with similar economic issues by starting an aggressive sponsorship program that’s brought in more than $20 million since 1999.

Pepsi paid a $1.5 million signing fee plus $250,000 annually to be the drink of choice for San Diego. In exchange, the soft-drink company has the exclusive right to sell its products at city-owned sites.

“It’s gone very well,” said Jenny Wolff, San Diego’s director of strategic partnerships, which include endorsement deals with General Motors and Verizon Wireless.

Nancy D. Sidhu, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said municipal product endorsements may be the wave of the future.

“Cities are in a bind,” Sidhu said. “Traditional revenue sources are shrinking and corporate sponsors can bring money in. I would expect to see more cities investigating and, depending on the costs and benefits, going ahead with something like this.”

Long Beach officials said it’s still too early to talk about brands.

“Maybe we’ll have a Pepsi-Coke war,” Councilwoman Schipske quipped. “You can drink Pepsi in San Diego, but if you want to drink Coke, you come to Long Beach.”