Officials from AEG and Farmers Insurance today formally announced their 30-year naming-rights deal for a prospective NFL stadium in downtown L.A. during a press conference at the L.A. Convention Center. AEG President & CEO Tim Leiweke called the deal the “most significant step forward in the last 15 years in our efforts as a community, as leaders to return the NFL to Los Angeles.” L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “With this announcement, I think it’s very clear football is coming back to Los Angeles” (Fox Sports West, 2/1).
Leiweke and Farmers CMO Kevin Kelso prior to the press conference appeared on CNBC to discuss the partnership. Leiweke: “This is L.A. and this is Hollywood. If you build it, they will come. I do believe that there are a lot of teams that aren't going to have success in getting a facility in their own marketplace and they're going to look at this and know that they don't need a cash investment.” Kelso noted there are contingencies to the deal if a team does not relocate, but said, “We wouldn't enter into this deal if we didn't think there was going to be a stadium here and we didn't think there was going to be a team here” (“The Call,” CNBC, 2/1).
