Last year's deal was for naming rights to the stadium, whereas the new deal is only for the fieldGETTY IMAGES
USC lost out on "at least" $25M when a deal between the school and United Airlines for naming rights for L.A. Memorial Coliseum was "scrapped" in favor of a revised deal, according to a source cited by Arash Markazi of the L.A. TIMES. Last year's original pact was a 16-year, $69M naming-rights deal for the stadium, whereas the new 10-year agreement is only for the naming rights to the field. Naming rights for the Coliseum have "long been seen as a key component to renovating the aging stadium." In '15, USC "enlisted the help of Fox Sports" to find a naming rights partner. USC was looking for about $5M per year, and "'Memorial Coliseum' had to remain part of the name." No one will call the Coliseum's "previously nameless field the United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, outside of school and network employees obligated to do so." Even if the two sides had "renamed it everyone still would have called it the Coliseum, which is why" USC officials were "never able to get the naming-rights deal they wanted." Before this dispute, "most didn't even realize the Coliseum was a war memorial." With the Coliseum's name "untouched for the foreseeable future," perhaps L.A. County Supervisor and Coliseum Commission President Janice Hahn can "push for the stadium to actually recognize veterans" (L.A. TIMES, 6/11).
