The Expos and Labatt yesterday announced a 20-year,
C$100M agreement which gives the brewery naming rights to
the team's planned new stadium, according to Ian MacDonald
of the Montreal GAZETTE. Under terms of the deal, Labatt
will begin payments in 2001, and will "continue as the
team's major sponsor up to the time when, and if, the new
stadium is ready." At that point, the new naming deal
"would take effect." Expos Owner Claude Brochu said that
"most" of the new money "would be directed toward payroll,"
which is now MLB's lowest, estimated at $9M: "To win today,
you have to be close to the average payroll. That has to be
our objective -- minimum. We've got to be spending in a
year like this year, not $9 million, but more like $45
million" (GAZETTE, 5/29). In Montreal, Jack Todd writes
that the timing of the Labatt deal is "crucial" for the
Expos because of the "urgency" of their stadium situation.
Todd: "Brochu now has a major player on board with the kind
of commitment businessmen understand -- money, and lots of
it. He ... and the others who have been recruited to peddle
[PSLs] can now point to Labatt and say, with a straight
face: 'ya gotta believe.'" Brochu has set a June 30
deadline for a "go/no go decision" on whether the goal of
18,000 PSLs sold can be met for a new Expos park (GAZETTE,
5/29). Brochu's deadline "also supposedly applies" to the
estimated $150M in government aid he will need to build the
park. Brochu: "I realize there are some words that you
can't use without getting a negative reaction. ... We need
to talk more about how this could be an investment and a
partnership. ... In any city, the road to getting a stadium
built is an ugly one" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 5/29).
