Brooklyn Cyclones lose KeySpan Park name
Published: January 29, 2010 - 1:51 pm
National Grid and the Brooklyn Cyclones have ended their nearly decade-long naming rights deal for KeySpan Park, the 7,500-seat Coney Island home of a New York Mets minor league ballclub.
A spokesman for the Cyclones said the team expects to announce a new naming rights partner soon, but would not offer a timeframe nor would he characterize the seriousness of any discussions.
The once-booming business of naming rights to professional sports venues has gone bust as the national economy has tanked. The new Giants and Jets stadium in the Meadowlands, for instance, has not been able to come up with a partner despite the high profiles of the two teams and events that would be held there.
But Coney Island's iconic status and the city's plans to revitalize the area with year-round amusements, new retail space, housing and a hotel could make the stadium an attractive option, for the right price.
“If you're a Brooklyn-based company looking for recognition this is a good opportunity to get in on the cheap,” said Robert Boland, a professor of sports business at New York University. “If I were the Mets I'd be selling the local angle to local people, saying, ‘What a great deal compared to being one of the people in the Meadowlands or one of the people at Citi Field or one of people at Yankee Stadium.'”
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100129/FREE/100129857/0/kbindrim&template=printart
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