THE Yankees, weeks away from announcing a deal with City Hall for a new ballpark in The Bronx, are throwing around the idea of not doing a traditional stadium naming-rights deal so they can retain the Yankee Stadium name pure and uncluttered on their new field of dreams.
That’s the word seeping out from George Steinbrenner’s inner circle as the Bronx Bombers’ plans for a new stadium slowly – very slowly – take shape.
If they stay the course, they will be breaking ranks with most other MLB teams who lean heavily on corporate cash to help pay for their stadiums. The Mets, who can announce the completion of their financing talk for their new $500 million stadium any day now, will most likely sell naming rights.
But Fred Wilpon, co-owner of the Mets, doesn’t have the same problem Steinbrenner has. Nobody will shed a tear when Shea Stadium is plowed under and the name retired. No stadium has a more storied past or is more loved than the House That Ruth Built.
While the Yanks maintain that no decision has been made regarding their future home and that renovating the 73-year old Stadium, moving to New Jersey and moving to Manhattan are still viable alternatives, the smart money is on Steinbrenner humming “there’s no place like home” and opting to built a new, luxury suite-laden stadium near the existing Stadium in The Bronx.
Which means the existing Stadium is destined to meet the wrecker’s ball. Which means there has to be a lot of tact in replacing the jewel. Which means the team is likely to follow through on keeping the Yankee Stadium name pure and simple.
That doesn’t mean Steinbrenner will not be looking to increase the already more than $500 million in corporate cash pledged to major league baseball teams for stadium naming rights. Just that he’ll do it his own way – a sort of non-naming rights naming rights deal, sources said.
What?
Steinbrenner already has the richest non-naming rights deal in sports – $10 million a year from adidas. People lauded Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder when he snagged $7.6 million a year from FedEx to rename his stadium. But Steinbrenner trumped that and made Snyder look like a piker with his adidas deal – and he didn’t even have to rename the Stadium.
People are whispering about Steinbrenner looking to land the largest corporate-sports partnership deal with the new Stadium, with a multi-brand corporation handing over $15 million or so a year just to have the tiers, the parking lot, the entrance tunnels, the souvenir stands or whatever named after them.
That’s a nice piece of change, especially on top of the $50 million or so in added revenue the team will get from launching its own regional sport network. Both mega-deals are a ways off, of course, and things can change. But as Steinbrenner today celebrates his 71st birthday, he is showing the sports world his business deals still set the mark for oth – ers to follow.
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The Brooklyn Cyclones are one of the hottest minor league teams in the country, not only at the turnstile but at the cash register, as well. The team has sold more than 15,000 caps at $22 apiece and more than 7,000 T-shirts at $16 apiece, team officials said. That’s hardly a surprise for fans who’ve been to KeySpan Park. The longest lines have not been at the hot dog stand or at the bathrooms, but at the team store – waiting to get inside. The team said Internet orders have come from as far away as Japan and Australia.
Next week, when sales of all minor-league baseball merchandise are announced, Cyclones officials are hoping to see Brooklyn’s finest at the top. Strong competition is expected from the Kannapolis Intimidators, which were owned by the late Dale Earnhardt, the Round Rock Express, owned by Nolan Ryan, and the first-year Lakewood (N.J.) BlueClaws.
