September 15, 2008
Allianz deal off
The New York Jets and Giants have apparently decided that putting a concentration camp insurer's name on their stadium isn't worth $30 million a year in naming-rights fees: The teams announced Friday that they'd ended talks with Allianz for a naming-rights deal for their new stadium opening in 2010. "We paid very close attention to what people were saying this week," the team's stadium chief, Mark Lamping, told the New York Times. "Whether those opinions were expressed directly to us, or through the media, we paid attention and was one of many factors that went into our decision."
The teams are expected to keep looking for a company that can meet their $30-million-a-year price tag, which would be a new record for naming rights. But they shouldn't have any trouble finding a red-blooded American firm with money to spend - there are still plenty of those around, right?
