Stadium Central

A few recent articles address the issue of stadium naming rights. CNN Money discusses the large sums of money being thrown around in the naming of stadiums in New York. Citibank has pledged $20 million per year for naming rights to the new stadium for the Mets, while Barclays Bank has matched the 20 year, $400 million dollar bid by agreeing with the Nets for their new arena in Brooklyn. The Giants and Jets are hoping to bring in approximately $25 million per year for their new stadium in New Jersey. One team that will not cash in on this trend is the New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers apparently have decided that preservation of the history of Yankee Stadium is too important to taint by adding a name to the new Yankee Stadium. They'll certainly find other ways to capitalize on sponsorship throughout the stadium, no doubt, but they will leave a lot of money on the table by not accepting corporate naming rights.

Related to naming rights, the Jacksonville Jaguars' stadium in Jacksonville will lose the sponsorship of Alltel after the ten year agreement expired following the regular season (see article) . No news yet on whether the Jags will have a new agreement in place. If none is reached by the first game of the season, the Jaguars will be playing their games in Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.