The current naming-rights deal with AmericanAirlines Arena, which is worth about $2.1M annually, ends in '19NBAE/GETTY IMAGES
The Heat "sent a letter" to Miami-Dade County commissioners yesterday in an attempt to "set the record straight on what the team perceives as misconceptions about the relationship between it and the county as a new naming-rights deal looms" for AmericanAirlines Arena, according to Tim Reynolds of the AP. The letter from Heat President of Business Operations Eric Woolworth "comes about three weeks after county officials exercised their right to take full control of negotiations" for the next naming-rights deal. The county also "chose an option to pay the Heat" $2M annually starting in '20, and "keep the rest." But the Heat had "hoped for a collaborative effort." The current deal, worth about $2.1M annually, will end in '19. It is "unclear what advantage -- if any -- the next holder of the naming rights could glean from the Heat brand if the team is not part of the deal-making process." The Heat control arena operations, and the team's "brand is bustling" (AP, 11/13).
