PA-based Adelphia Communications has inked a 15-year,
$30M deal with the Titans for the naming rights to the
team's stadium, to be called Adelphia Coliseum, according to
Jeff Legwold of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. Adelphia's name
will appear on all sides of the stadium, set to open in
August, and the deal will be formally completed on July 8 or
9 during a ceremony at the stadium. Adelphia, which is
owned by Sabres Owner John Rigas, is the parent company of
Hyperion Communications, and it was initially believed that
"Hyperion Coliseum" was the "likely candidate for the
stadium's name." But company execs "moved steadily toward
putting the name Adelphia Coliseum on the stadium instead
during negotiations held in recent weeks." The deal allows
for "Adelphia Coliseum" to appear on both sides of the
scoreboards in each endzone as well as on the outside of the
stadium facing downtown and I-65. The company will also
provide most of the telecom services at the facility and for
the scoreboards. The Titans will keep all revenue from the
naming rights deal plus the services that Adelphia will
provide at the stadium (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 6/28).
SIZE DOESN'T MATTER: In Nashville, Duren Cheek writes
that signs for Adelphia Coliseum will be allowed to be "as
big as a battleship" due to the stadium's "total immunity"
from city's zoning regulations (TENNESSEAN, 6/29). In
Nashville, David Climer: "OK, I'll admit Adelphia Coliseum
doesn't exactly light me up. It sounds like the place where
they fed Adelphies to the lions" (TENNESSEAN, 6/29).
