RBC Naming-Rights Deal For New FAU Football Stadium Called Off

Deal Falls Through For Naming Rights To Florida Atlantic Univ.'s Proposed Stadium

A deal in which RBC would obtain the naming rights to Florida Atlantic Univ.'s (FAU) proposed football stadium for $20M is now "kaput -- a victim, in part, of the global economic turmoil that has shadowed FAU's funding drive for the 30,000-seat stadium," according to Kimberly Miller of the PALM BEACH POST. The company yesterday confirmed that the deal "is off for the time being." Though FAU President Frank Brogan has "pledged that the stadium will be completed in 2010, timelines set in the spring on securing money now appear teasingly optimistic." But FAU attorney David Kian said that if "enough money was raised from other sources, the school could move forward with a financing plan for the $62[M] stadium without a naming rights contract." Miller notes an estimated $12-14M is "needed to begin negotiating a finance deal and selling bonds," and as of September, FAU "had raised about" $4M (PALM BEACH POST, 11/13).