Or maybe naming rights deals really are good business. Maybe Citi Field will become a shining beacon of sports/business synergy, just like Enron Field and Bank One Ballpark and Pacific Bell Park and SBC Park and Ameriquest Field and Edison International Field and Network Associates Coliseum and McAfee Coliseum.Great. Now my sarcas-o-meter is on fire.
But as the latest news suggests, Citgroup may make it out of the woods with the help of you, me, and Uncle Paulson. I think it's only fitting that, in exchange for the public's assistance, the new stadium in Queens should have some very New Dealy kind of name like "Workers' Field" or "Arthurdale Park."
7 comments:
IIRC Newsday recently published a 3 part PSL backlash series. I didn't read it - read about it - but no doubt spurred by the Giants & Jets. Another example of the populist backlash against pro sports that we've been discussing here.
As for the Citi naming rights deal...everybody is saying the right things but none of us will be surprised if they bail out of it...I've been reading conjecture about it..
Bailout Ballpark?
My suggestions are: Paulson Place (for the bailout of course); The Albatross (for the taxpayers footing the bill), BTS (better than Shea) Center; or TONY (for the 'The Other New York team' and a shout out to Braodway).
I go back to the point Craig made about the difference between the sports and business section of the paper. Casually throwing out suggestions like maybe backing out of the $400 naming rights deal would help save some of the 52,000 jobs that are being cut is all well and good and gets people hot and bothered about the issue, but at $20M/year those 52,000 employees would have to make an annual salary of $340 for it to work out.
Or put differently, assuming an unrealistic median salary of $40,000 for those employees, the $20M saved in the naming rights deal would save exactly 500 jobs.
It sounds great, but the reality is that Citigroup is paying a pittance for the naming rights. If anything, this should serve as a warning to all the other stadium management people that maybe $20M/year doesn't really cover the risk of ending up with an embarrassing albatross of a venue name for the next 20 years.
Taxpayer Park?
God bless Anthony Rieber, the true voice of the New York people!
Can we get this man into public office ASAP?!
Looks like Wallace Matthews reads you, Craig:
http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spwally265942390nov26,0,6996374.column
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