June 21, 2006

Jets/Giants naming rights to hit $20M/year?

As the New York Jets and Giants prepare to market the naming rights to their planned new stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands, various guesses are being made as to what those will be worth: The teams told investment bankers earlier this year that the stadium name could bring in $17.6 million a year, while unnamed "experts" tell the Bergen Record the fee could go as high as $20 million. Either would be a record, according to the New York Times, which notes that O2's annual deal for London's Millennium Dome runs $12 million a year, while the U.S. record is $10 million per for the Houston Texans' Reliant Field.

Giants co-owner John Mara also told the Times that he expected an "extraordinary deal" given that the rising steel prices have left the teams now looking at between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion in construction costs. I'm sure that'll be a big selling point: "Put your name on the most expensive stadium ever!"