NAME GAME: AD AGE's Jeff Jensen reports that the naming
rights segment of the sports business world "could exceed"
$750M in new deals this year. Jensen reports that today,
there are 42 deals, worth $1.1B (AD AGE, 3/16 issue)....In
N.Y., Kathryn Kranhold examines name recognition of electric
utility companies. New billboards for Edison Int'l, which
recently bought the naming rights to Anaheim Stadium,
"haven't sat well with fans." Anaheim City Manager James
Ruth said that some fans feel that the new slogan, "Kiss
Your Big A Goodbye," says "To heck with history. We're
moving on." Kranhold writes that Cinergy Inc., however, has
improved its name recognition by 60% in both the Cincinnati
area and in Indiana, since purchasing the naming rights to
the Riverfront Stadium, to 95% and 69% name recognition,
respectively (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/17).
NOTES: Mets fans will be offered a ferry service from
Manhattan to Shea Stadium this season. Like a similar ferry
to Yankee Stadium, the Mets ferry, consisting of two boats
with total capacity of 700, will cost $10 per round trip
(N.Y. TIMES, 3/17)....Newly renovated Lockhart Stadium "is
likely to be the site for a Dolphins scrimmage in July"
(SUN-SENTINEL, 3/17)....A new grassroots group, Citizens
Opposing the Stadium Tax (COST), has formed in CO in
opposition to the Broncos proposed new stadium. The group
is opposed to a state legislative bill that would approve a
$266M taxpayer subsidy for a new stadium (DENVER POST,
3/16). Broncos lobbyist Porter Wharton, on securing public
funds for a new stadium: "The economic arguments are out of
style right now. We're saying: This team is an important
part of your lives. At the end of the day, that's what's
going to motivate people to vote for a stadium. ... They may
hold their noses, but they won't want to lose the team"
(BOSTON GLOBE, 3/16).
