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The Ups and Downs of Citi and the Baseball

I could talk about A-Rod and steroids but frankly I'm done with steroids. I'm bored with it and suspect that most of you are too. I'll only say this about A-Rod since this is a sports business blog, the revelations about a positive test probably ruined his sponsor relationships forever. I don't know how long it will take them to break their contracts or if they will just not renew, but no company wants a known steroid user as a company pitchman and his endorsement days are over. He doesn't need the money so it won't be that big a deal I suppose, but there you are.

The more interesting to me story of the current baseball preseason is the machinations surrounding Citi's naming rights deal with the Mets. It is the largest naming rights deal in baseball at $400 million for 20 years and the political firestorm of a company receiving TARP funds spending that kind of money on a stadium deal may force Citi to attempt to change the terms of the deal. I don't believe that Citi will terminate the contract. For one thing, I doubt seriously there are grounds for termination and if Citi tried, the Mets would probably go to court to hold it to it. No, I think it far more likely that the public relations aspect of this will mean that both parties will come to some agreement modifying the deal in some way that allows Citi to keep its name on the stadium and the Mets to keep the bulk of the money, while allowing Citi executives to claim that they renegotiated the deal and saved the company a lot of money.

This is not the only baseball stadium that carries Citi's name. The Long Island Ducks, of the independent Atlantic League, play in Citibank Park in Central Islip. The naming rights deal was a ten year pact that expires following the upcoming season and netted Suffolk County, which owns the stadium $2.5 million. While I think it is unlikely Citibank will renew the agreement, the bank released a statement saying: "Citibank is pleased with our relationship with the Long Island Ducks and Suffolk County. We have not yet begun to evaluate and/or renegotiate renewal terms of the contract but look forward to begin those conversations." I guess you never know, but Suffolk is drafting a request for proposal just to be safe.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on February 09, 2009 (boomark / email).