ASU-Cards Dispute Costing School; Cuts Likely If Team Wins
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| ASU Reallocating Resources For Legal Battle |
AZ State Univ. (ASU) has spent almost $500,000 defending itself
against the NFL Cardinals in a "nasty legal dispute over sign revenue at Sun
Devil Stadium," according to Craig Harris of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. ASU AD Gene
Smith said, "We will have to re-allocate resources in order to fund the lawsuit."
Smith yesterday would not specify "which cuts would occur, but he has said staff
and athletic programs would be eliminated if the Cardinals win their suit."
Meanwhile, ASU "has softened its stance on whether the" Cardinals were "damaged
after ASU flooded Sun Devil Stadium with" 31 new permanent sponsorship signs
in '99, saying that the Cardinals "could be entitled to $258,482." But that
is a "fraction of the nearly $12[M] the Cardinals are seeking." The Cardinals
said that they "lost prime real estate and were unable to sell sponsorships,"
when ASU's signage went up. Cardinals Dir of PR Paul Jensen said that ASU "capitalized
on the success of the Cardinals when the team went to the playoffs in 1998."
Jensen: "It is no coincidence this (sponsorship signs) occurred in 1999, after
we went to the playoffs" (ARIZONA
REPUBLIC, 11/11).
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