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Strategies & Market Trends : Moufassa's Lair -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: moufassa7 who wrote (4868)	2/12/2002 12:04:44 PM
From: Mark Konrad	Respond to of 13660

FFIV...you'll have better luck on an entry closer to 23; should at least pause and correct there even if it ultimately heads higher, imo--MK--

To: moufassa7 who wrote (4868)	2/12/2002 12:27:28 PM
From: Tradelite	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13660

OT..Houston, Boston, and others find themselves stuck with Enron and other questionable corporate names on their sports stadiums. ____________________________ Baltimore NFL Stadium To Shed PSINet Name By Yuki Noguchi Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, February 12, 2002; Page E01 The prominent neon-purple PSINet Inc. logo illuminating the Baltimore Ravens' stadium will be coming off soon as the Ravens shed their association with the bankrupt Internet company and reclaim the right to sell the stadium's naming privileges to another sponsor. Last year's Super Bowl champions and the Ashburn-based Internet company have agreed to terminate the 20-year, $105 million contract that gave PSINet the right to name the stadium, according to a filing last week with the federal bankruptcy court in New York. The agreement also terminates $76 million in sponsorship and luxury-suite contracts the two parties have been negotiating since PSINet filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May. As part of the deal, PSINet will receive a $5.9 million partial reimbursement for what it has paid to have its name emblazoned on the 69,000-plus-seat stadium. The company's chief financial officer, Lawrence Hyatt, declined to comment on the deal, which requires approval from the bankruptcy court. PSINet, which sells Internet services to businesses, has been an emblem for the meteoric rise and fall of Washington's technology economy. In January 1999, when the company signed its deal with the Ravens, it was on a rising tide; within a year, its stock price had reached $60 a share and it employed more than 9,000 people worldwide. Now, its U.S. employee base is a skeletal 350 as it continues to sell off pieces of its business. "In the past, PSINet was a highly regarded company by its customers, and it was a company you wanted to be associated with," said Kevin Byrne, a spokesman for the Ravens. "We don't have any regrets in working with them." Firms interested in buying the naming rights have approached the Ravens, but no deals have been made, Byrne said. Stadiums bearing the names of once-hot technology companies find themselves in the same boat as their sponsors. Qualcomm Stadium (formerly Jack Murphy Stadium) in San Diego, 3Com Park (formerly Candlestick Park) in San Francisco and CMGI Field (a new venue built adjacent to the old Foxboro Stadium) in Boston find themselves backed by companies whose stock prices have taken a serious beating. But nothing rivals the grim problem the Houston Astros face with Enron Field. They have petitioned a bankruptcy court to free them from their naming agreement with Enron Corp., the energy-trading firm embroiled in one of the biggest political and financial scandals to come out of the past decade's economic boom. For sports teams, a stadium name is not just a financial matter, it's a reputation, said Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp Ltd., a Chicago firm that negotiates stadium-naming deals. "It's bad enough to be associated with a bankruptcy, but [the Enron name] has the potential to be a public relations nightmare" for the Astros, he said. The market for naming rights -- once as white-hot as the stock prices that fueled Wall Street's boom -- has showed signs of cooling, Ganis said. The Ravens could rename their stadium the day after the agreement is approved by the bankruptcy court, but they're likely to scrutinize the candidates thoroughly before throwing in their lot with a new corporate partner, he said, adding that "if they don't, they're fools." Disengaging from a close partnership requires more than just a new contract for the stadium; it means a massive overhaul of its marketing operations and its interior decoration. The Ravens, who also lose their Internet service provider with the termination of the deal, will have to bear the cost of removing the PSINet name and logo from the stadium; advertising and promotional materials; souvenir cups, napkins and cup holders; and uniforms for the marching band, mascot, cheerleaders, security staff and concession workers. Researcher Richard Drezen contributed to this report. 2002 The Washington Post Company