Field of Schemes
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November 22, 2008

Will Mets ever play at "Citi Field"?

Citigroup's week from hell could end up having some collateral damage in the sports world. The New York Post points out that if the struggling bank gets bought out, the New York Mets' new stadium could end up with a different name: "Think 'Goldman Sachs Diamond,' 'Morgan Stanley Stadium' or 'HSBC Field.'" Or the way things are going, maybe "Treasury Department Park."

As for whether the Mets are assured of getting their $20 million a year in naming-rights fees regardless of whether Citi falls, that's not altogether clear. While I told the Post that I assumed Citigroup (or its buyers) wouldn't be able to get out of the deal via anything short of bankruptcy, the Times reports today that "what is not known is if Citi could get out of the agreement through a buyout or escape clause," which sounds like no one outside of the parties involved knows what's in the actual contract. The Mets and Citi both released statements saying they're "committed" to the naming-rights deal, but if it's not written into the contract, there's no guarantee that whoever ends up owning the bank's end of the deal will feel the same.

COMMENTS

How about "Jackie Robinson Stadium?"

Posted by Jeremy Schneider on November 26, 2008 07:10 AM

I, for one, think that people should call the place whatever they want, regardless of who paid who to slap a billboard on it. Maybe after Citi gets bought out a few times and the stadium goes through three corporate names in one year, fans will revert to calling it "Jackie Robinson" or "Mets Field" or even "Shea" because they won't remember what the bank is called this week.

Anyone in Boston reading this who can tell us how the Celtics' arena is generally referred to these days?

Posted by Neil on November 26, 2008 12:30 PM

It is the "TD Banknorth Garden" after being the Fleet Center and a few other things. This allows us to call it "The Garden" which works just fine.

Posted by Gdub on December 1, 2008 07:48 PM

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