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January 30, 2009

Kucinich asks Citigroup to give up Citifield naming rights deal

Atlantic Yards Report

Norman Oder responds to news that:

Representatives Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Ted Poe (R-TX) have asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to demand that Citigroup dissolve its $400 million naming rights contract for the New York Mets, known as Citifield.
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Essentially, the naming rights agreement is a marketing expense, and even banks that take federal money aren't being asked to stop marketing, are they? (Can egregious marketing expenses be regulated?)

But it's probably not a marketing expense--at least at $20 million a year--that the bank would make today.

Barclays Capital has so far avoided nationalization. But the discussion about the Atlantic Yards arena naming rights deal might get interesting if the U.K. government does end up bailing out the bank.

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NoLandGrab: That's a hard one. Can we expect a backlash if any automakers that accepted federal bridge loans pay premium rates to advertise during the Super Bowl?

Then again, if taxpayers are lending a hand in the construction of the ballpark, shouldn't naming rights proceeds go back to the government?

Posted by lumi at January 30, 2009 5:10 AM