HSBC Bank USA filed a "breach of contract" suit in NY
state court against Crossroads Arena, a Sabres subsidiary,
because the arena's owners "refuse to change the name" of
Marine Midland Arena to HSBC Arena, according to Chet
Bridger of the BUFFALO NEWS. HSBC bought Marine Midland
bank earlier this year and "changed" all of the Marine
Midland signage to HSBC, "essentially erasing the Marine
Midland brand name." Marine Midland had previously "bought
20-year naming rights" on the arena for $15M in '95. HSBC
and the Sabres "disagree on whether the bank's corporate
name change gives it the right to change the arena name."
However, HSBC "can't change the arena name without the
consent of the Sabres." HSBC has "filed for a declaratory
judgement," asking a judge to declare the arena owners "in
breach and force the venue" to be named HSBC Arena. Bridger
wrote that "complicating" the entire process is the Sabres'
"contentious ownership situation." The naming rights
contract "was negotiated" by Niagara Frontier Hockey
Management Corp., which is "selling the team" to a
partnership lead by Adelphia Communications founder John
Rigas. The sale "has not closed" and the deal is "being
held up by several sticky financial conditions, including
the fact the team is in default on a $32 million loan to a
consortium of banks headed by HSBC" (BUFFALO NEWS, 8/7).
