Adelphia Communications and BellSouth are "butting
heads" over Adelphia's $30M naming rights deal with the
Titans at Adelphia Coliseum, "which happens to sit in the
shadow" of BellSouth's TN headquarters, according to
Pinkston & Lundegaard in the Southeast edition of the WALL
STREET JOURNAL. BellSouth is "suing" Adelphia and the
Titans after team officials "escorted" BellSouth workers out
of the stadium who were "wiring BellSouth customers" there.
But the Titans said that they "asked BellSouth to leave
because it wasn't sure what the company was doing in the
stadium." In '98, BellSouth "turned down an opportunity" to
put its name on the stadium, but "remained in active
discussions" to become the Titans' official telecom
provider. But those talks "began to fall apart" in
February when Adelphia "opened negotiations" with the
Titans, "leading" to a naming rights and telecom service
deal with the team. Adelphia execs said that their company
"never urged" the Titans to "eject" BellSouth from the
stadium, and Titans General Counsel Steve Underwood
"characterizes the episode as a misunderstanding." A
hearing is set for August 30, though a "settlement may be
reached before then" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/18).
