What's up with all of the stadium name problems these days?? Titans Want Judge To Decide On Stadium Name (Nashville-AP) -- The Tennessee Titans want a bankruptcy judge to force the company whose name is on their stadium to pay up or end their deal. The Titans have filed a motion in New York asking a U-S Bankruptcy Judge for help. Adelphia Business Solutions missed the first of four payments due this year on May 15th. Team officials hope for a quick decision. General counsel Steve Underwood says that would give them the chance to find another partner to take over naming rights before the season that starts August tenth. Adelphia still has 13 years left on a deal worth $2 million a year. The Titans had been trying to work with the company that filed for bankruptcy protection in March. But Adelphia missed a $500,000 payment due last week, prompting the motion. Two other stadiums this year already have had company names stripped because of bankruptcy problems.
Many of the companies sponsoring these stadiums are Internet or technology related (excluding Enron), two sectors hit hard in the past year or two. I know New England and SF lost the names off of their stadiums due to the economic downturn, and with Adelphia (another technology/cable company) about to go belly up themselves the Titans may well lose theirs as well. Almost makes a furniture store seem like a more long term solution, lol.
Of course, it has been non-tech companies with naming rights deals that have bitten the dust, too. I mean, there have been airlines (TWA Dome in St. Louis) and clothing (Pro Player Stadium in Miami), as well. Maybe it's like the Sports Illutrated curse. Buy naming rights to a stadium and watch your business crumble.
