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March 10, 2009
Is a U.S. Government bailout paying for Barclays Center naming rights?
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder declares that money is still fungible, which means that the report that Barclays Bank received a cut of the US Federal bailout funds through AIG and then reaffirmed the arena naming-rights deal with Ratner's NJ Nets is a BIG DEAL:
The money was not directly funneled into the arena naming rights. But if money's fungible, and last time I checked it was, whatever benefit Barclays gained could be redirected to other ventures. (And, as DDDB notes, Barclays will benefit from a bailout from the U.K. government.)
Maybe that's why Nets CEO Brett Yormark was always so confident Barclays would stick with the deal.
NoLandGrab: Keep in mind that the public and political outcry over Citibank's naming-rights deal with the Mets was for a done deal. Barclays' contract with the Nets allowed the British bank to walk away from the deal back in November, but it didn't. FYI: Both deals are valued at $20 million/year for 20 years.
Posted by lumi at March 10, 2009 7:06 AM