NAMING RIGHTS NOT JUST A MAJOR LEAGUE PHENOMENON

     The selling of naming rights to minor league stadiums and
arenas is examined by Stefan Fatsis of the WALL STREET JOURNAL.
In Lansing, MI, the new home for baseball's Lugnuts is Oldsmobile
Park.  In Boise, ID, the hockey team will play in the Bank of
America Event Centre, while in Greenville, SC, a new hockey team
will play in the BI-LO Center, named for a regional supermarket
chain.  In Buffalo, the renamed Pilot Field is now called the
North AmeriCare Park.  The deals are "no match financially" for
those at the major league level.  North American Health Care's
deal is valued at $3.9M over 13 years.  But most communities,
stadium and arena builders list naming rights as a key source of
revenue prior to construction.  In Boise, Bank of America paid
more than $100,000 for naming rights, but also provided more than
half the financing for the $45M hotel and arena project (WALL
STREET JOURNAL, 4/10).