Citi, AIG Won't Drop Big Sports Sponsorships

[IDemo]

ABC News - By JUSTIN ROOD
November 24, 2008

AIG, Citibank and a number of other federally bailed-out financial institutions have no plans to cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in sports team sponsorships, even as they take billions in taxpayer support, ABC News has found.

In boom times, the sponsorships were seen as a way to advertise the firms' "brands" and appeal to potential customers. Even today, at least one bank told ABC News that a naming deal was increasing its revenue. But critics, including a member of Congress, say the decision to continue them now is hard to defend.

Struggling Citibank just sealed a multi-billion-dollar emergency "backstop" deal with the U.S. government. The financial behemoth, suffering with billions in bad mortgage-related assets on its books, recently shed 53,000 workers and saw its stock price lose over half its value. Yet it's in a 20-year contract to pay the New York Mets $400 million to name the team's new stadium "Citi Field."

"This type of spending is indefensible and unacceptable to Citigroup's new partner and largest investor: the American taxpayer," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., in a statement Monday.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6321691&page=1

[LeftHander]

1. I got a CitiBank loan based on seeing Citi Field on TV....

I mean baseball. CitiCorp...hotdogs and chevrolet.

I refinanced my house, consolidated all my debt and went with CitiCrop because they are so into baseball.

Doesn't everyone make important financial decisions based on the name of a sporting venue?

I do.

[crazylikafox]

2. Seems to me, if it's ok to break a UAW contract, it's ok to break a METS contract. Geesh.

[JerseygirlCT]

3. Heh, and they'd only need to change one letter -

that "i" becomes a "y", and ... problem solved!

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. Enron Field

[IDemo]

5. Maybe each game should include a Paulsen Punt™ and a Bush Fumble©

just to keep the score in perspective.