The Music City Bowl in Nashville is seeking a new title
sponsor for the "third time in as many years," as home
furnishings e-tailer HomePoint.com has "bowed out,"
according to Joe Biddle of the Nashville TENNESSEAN.
HomePoint.com signed a two-year contract, with a third
option year, as title sponsor, but the company, "after only
one year," has "negotiated a settlement" to become a lower-
level sponsor of the game. Biddle writes that when
HomePoint.com President Mike West resigned, "it led to
speculation" that the company would "no longer be involved
as title sponsor," as West, a former Univ. of TN football
player, "obviously was attracted to the college football
sponsorship." HomePoint.com CEO William Herlong
acknowledged, "Sports sponsorships are no longer a strategic
avenue for us to follow." Music City Bowl Exec Dir Scott
Ramsey said that the "monetary loss" from HomePoint.com's
move will "not be significant because of the negotiated
buyout." Ramsey: "We obviously went in with our eyes open
with a dotcom. At the time, dotcoms were doing well, but
they are going through a lot of changes" (TENNESSEAN, 7/13).
