Sunday, November 23, 2008

The Mets will play at ? Field next year

The Mets better not get too attached to the name Citi Field.

Team officials are said to be increasingly nervous as struggling Citigroup's stock continues to plummet - and potentially endangers their $20 million-a-year naming-rights deal for the new $850 million stadium.


METS MAY PAY FOR CITI SLUMP

Mets rep Jay Horwitz yesterday insisted, "There is no change in regard to Citi's commitment to the new ballpark."

But David Howard, the team's vice president of business affairs and main spokesman on the deal, for the first time deflected all questions back to Citigroup.

And the future doesn't look good for the financial giant.

Citigroup's stock woes are making it ripe for a takeover, and Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, HSBC and State Street Bank are already being talked about as potential buyers or merger partners.

The onetime banking titan closed at $3.77 yesterday, down 89 percent in the past year.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Somewhere out there, the late Mr. Shea must be clamoring for a naming comeback.

Anonymous said...

When will we see the NY Met/Wilpon bailout from the Feds? Prolly never. I think the threshold bailout requirement is that bailout company execs must have made at least $3Bil in year end bonuses to qualify.

Anonymous said...

Will the taxpayers have to rescue the stadium? Will Bumberg raise the price of plastic bags to 12 cents to cover the costs? Stay tuned for the next installment of...

SCREWED AGAIN!!!

Anonymous said...

Wilpon's dilemma: Pay his own money to athletes who may win the season, or take money from fat, lazy bank executives whose only sport is screwing employees, customers, shareholders and secretaries.

Anonymous said...

travesty!! all of the money they wasted.. between shea and that other stadium in the bronx.. wall street bailout..auto bailout.. oh noes.. im getting angry.. where's my blood pressure meds? citifield my ass.. it will always be shae.. shea.. whatever you call it..

retarded corporate stadium naming must be stopped..i hope they all go bankrupt.. citi, staples.. there's no hope for mankind.. sigh.. idiocracy

Ridgewoodian said...

Let's hope - fingers crossed - that one positive outcome of the financial meltdown will be the abandonment of the awful practice of selling naming rights to sports venues. As these things go "CitiField" isn't so bad - it's no Qualcomm Stadium, Minute Maid Park, or U.S. Cellular Field - but wouldn't Robinson Memorial Stadium, or Bob Murphy Stadium, or Seaver Park, or Willets Point Park, or Metropolitan Field or even - GASP! - New Shea Stadium, wouldn't any of these have been better? Hopefully we'll get one of them someday soon.

Anonymous said...

I don't care how nice the new stadium may be, this lifelong Mets fan will never see the inside of Bloomberg and Freddie Coupon's monument to greed.
They may get my tax money, but I will never again shell out the king's ransom required for the privelege of watching these grossly overpaid prime-donna millionares schlep around a baseball diamond.

Anonymous said...

But they already put up those big, shiny letters! What a tragedy.

Anonymous said...

To hell with the Mets, the Yankees, the city government. You are all equally guilty of greed that defies any sense of logic or moral judgement. You have no problem shaking the last dollar out of the pockets of the people of this city. But be warned, there is only so far you can go before we have no more to give, when we are finally cornered, and when we no longer have any optin but to turn around and fight!

Anonymous said...

wilpon will just go to the mayor to bail him out , after all it was wilpon who put the pressure on to rob willets point saying i can't look out my window at that crap. sorry mr wilpon if people are not up to your standard of living what is your crap is our gold . now when mr wilpon needs $$$ hell just cry like all the other greedy rbbers and the city will spin a great story and give him 20 mil a year in tax breaks on top of what they already gave and me & you will know nothing abot it--- thank you hiram

Anonymous said...

no money ? then why do willets point

and the mets suck they cant even make the play offs

Anonymous said...

Not to worry...City Corp(se)
will just fire a few thousand
more of its employees and the Mets will be playing just "fine"
or us taxpayers will take up the slack ....eh Frau Shulman? !!!

Anonymous said...

Since Mr. Shea was the lawyer
who was responsible for tearing down the late great Penn Station....
I hope that his name remains buried with his bones!

Anonymous said...

I understand that those sky boxes
aren't selling very well at the new Yankee Stadium.

And those pin stripes are a really good ball team!

Maybe the Yanks should move to Queens and the Mets get shifted to the Bronx where nobody will notice their crappy playing.