The Patriots "are suing Bacardi for breach of contract after the rum maker backed out" of a 10-year, multimillion-dollar deal that "included plans for a 20,000-square-foot pavilion, to be called Casa Bacardi, on the grounds of Gillette Stadium," according to Callum Borchers of the BOSTON GLOBE. The Patriots said that they "probably won’t have time to secure another liquor sponsor before the season." The two sides "successfully signed a marketing agreement last July that included advertising at the stadium and on Patriots websites and broadcasts, along with tickets to home and away games" during the '13 season. The Patriots and Bacardi last fall "began negotiating a more extensive partnership." A formal marketing agreement "was never signed, but the team said it felt confident a deal was imminent after a February meeting" between execs. Patriots ownership "went so far as to begin delivering on other aspects of the proposed marketing agreement, running full-page Bacardi ads in its Patriots Football Weekly magazine and supplying the company with 612 tickets" to Revolution games. The Patriots' complaint states that Bacardi "abruptly notified the Patriots on April 15 that it planned to walk away, saying that 'internal turmoil' at the company had prompted a change of course" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/20).
