WOULD FLEET/BANKBOSTON MERGER HURT BOSTON'S SPORTS TEAMS?

          The "groundbreaking" sponsorship deal between Boston-
     based Fleet Financial Corp. and MLB is "expected" to be
     signed "within three weeks," according to Gregg Krupa of the
     BOSTON GLOBE, who puts the deal at $8-12M "over several
     years" (See THE DAILY, 3/22).  The partnership as MLB's
     Official Bank is "now even more attractive given" the
     company's pending merger with BankBoston.  IEG Sponsorship
     Report Editor Lance Helgeson: "They will have more markets
     after a merger, and they've got to come up with some kind of
     activity that really promotes them.  They will have a new
     name, and it behooves them to put that new brand out there
     in a striking new way" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/24). 
          WILL TEAMS FEEL THE PINCH? Krupa adds that many
     observers are saying that the "new bank is likely to be a
     bigger player in both sports marketing and lending on the
     national level," but Boston-area sports businesses "fear"
     that the new company's "marketing platform and commercial-
     lending business will be increasingly national in emphasis
     ... [and] may mean fewer dollars, locally."  Celtics Exec VP
     & CFO Richard Pond, in comments that "were echoed" by Red
     Sox and Bruins execs: "It takes some of the competitiveness
     out of the marketplace."  John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance
     President Dave D'Alessandro said that the Red Sox and
     Patriots "might lose 'a few hundred thousand dollars' ... in
     signage alone ... because one less bank will advertise with
     them for several years." Despite the merger, the FleetCenter
     name is "unlikely to change" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/24).

Print This Article