Good stuff from SuperSonicSoul on the devaluation of publicly traded companies that have NBA arena naming rights over the past month. (via TrueHoop)
These are long-term contracts so I can’t imagine the financial crisis will have an immediate affect on arena deals, but all the franchises that have grown accustomed to these lucrative sponsorship deals may find renewals or new contracts a little less favorable in the next year or two.
UPDATE: In much bigger news, it looks like the global slowdown and credit market freeze may derail the “No Sleep Til Brooklyn” Nets train. Given the current meltdown, Bruce Ratner — the real estate mogul owner of the Nets, not the guy who ruined the X-Men franchise — is having trouble finding investors to build the arena, which is the centerpiece of the highly controversial Atlantic Yards Projects in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, that will displace some long-time residents and generally turn a historic, organic neighborhood into a TGIFridays filled clusterfuck.
Ratner has said “the project will go forward,” but that was last month and this is what others are saying:
“It’s got more of an economic stall than a political or a legal stall,” said Michael Rowe, a sports management expert and former president of the Nets. “I think he missed the curve on when that project was financially viable and now he has to wait for it to come back.”
A leading critic of Atlantic Yards says the project is doomed.
“I think it’s clear to everyone,” said Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, a residents group suing to block the project. “This is just merely a fantasy that they’re going to build this project. Yet they’re moving forward as if everything’s fine.”
Although, in related news, the Brooklyn Nets arena is supposed to be called the Barclays Center. I wonder if they signed that contract yet?
Honestly, LeBron doesn’t have time to deal with this bullshit. Looks like it’s MSG instead. Tough life.
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