No Land Grab

Barclays to Pay $300 Million For Arena Naming Rights
By DAVID ENRICH
January 18, 2007 4:30 p.m.
The Wall Street Journal

NEW YORK -- U.K. banking giant Barclays PLC bought the naming rights to the new Nets basketball arena that is planned for Brooklyn, N.Y.

Under the 20-year agreement, Barclays said it will pay about $300 million for the proposed 20,000-seat arena to be called Barclays Center (www.barclayscenter.com1). The project, at the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, is scheduled to be completed by the start of the 2009-2010 National Basketball Association season.

The deal marks Barclays's latest effort to raise its U.S. profile. The bank has a limited retail presence in the U.S., largely revolving around its highly successful exchange-traded funds business.

But Robert E. Diamond, Barclays's president, said the deal with the Nets will improve the brand recognition of Barclays's retail and investment-banking offerings. "We knew it was time to invest more in our brand," he said in an interview Thursday. "I don't buy the fact that branding is only for retail products."

Mr. Diamond said the agreement shows Barclays's commitment to growing in the U.S., but said it isn't an indication that the company plans any acquisitions here. "I don't think it signals anything," he said.

The Barclays-Nets deal is the second recent New York stadium-naming pact involving a big bank. Last month, Citigroup Inc. purchased rights for the new Mets baseball stadium in Queens to be called Citi Field.

The Atlantic Yards development project -- which in addition to the indoor stadium also includes high-rise apartment and office buildings -- has been mired in controversy. Many local residents worry that it will overwhelm Brooklyn's already-strained infrastructure.

Mr. Diamond said he is aware of the controversy but isn't concerned. "We would not have gone forward with this if we weren't comfortable," he said.

As part of the deal, Barclays is also providing support to a non-profit organization that will renovate basketball courts and other sports facilities throughout Brooklyn.

--Andrew Edwards contributed to this article.

Write to David Enrich at david.enrich@dowjones.com

URL for this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116915282317080617.html

Photo caption: The planned arena lies at the middle of the massive Atlantic Yard development project.