sufandu
Living Legend
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- Aug 30, 2011
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Right, they paid for it. That's why they want to keep it, if they can. It's free at this point. Of course SU is done... unless Carrier wins the fight. SU is betting they'll win the fight, but Carrier isn't just gonna just hand it off, if they think there's a chance they can win without too much investmemt.They did pay for it (way back), but clearly the gravy train has ended. SU's done. As to the "national value", the lifeblood of any facility name flows from the site. To pay for a name at a Northeast University sports building (or to fund a dispute about one) - I would expect the buyer to have a heavy footprint in central NY and want to enhance the brand. Carrier went the other direction, and moved most of its jobs to Mexico and has its headquarters and major operations out of state. So why squabble with the site owner here - a building about to be rebuilt? The value of the name to Carrier has been minimized through it's own decisions. So as you pointed out, it will soon have a hard choice to make. SU seems to be betting that Carrier's not in it for the long-haul (again). I'd tend to agree. We'll see.
At this point the location is meaningless. It's only exposure that matters. Mercedes didn't purchase naming rights in Atlanta because they manufacture cars in Atlanta. Their US manufacturing facility is actually in Alabama about a 30 minute drive from Alabama's campus. Based on your logic, they should have struck a deal with the University of Alabama. They didn't because having their name on an NFL stadium is more national/international exposure. Staples didn't put their name on the Staples center because they have strong local ties (they're based in Massachusetts). They did it because everytime some national talking head talks about the Lakers or Clippers, there is a chance Staples will get mentioned. Invesco Field is in Denver, Invesco is headquartered in... Atlanta.
It's convenient when you have a major local company like the Pats have with Gillette or 49ers have with Levi's but, clearly, neither the stadium owner nor corporate sponser considers is essential. That is why Carrier would love to keep their sweetheart deal, if they can pull it off and SU would like to get a modern naming rights deal with whoever will give them the best one, local or not.