The Wall Street Journal has a report today that says LA Coliseum is putting naming rights on the market in the hopes of raising $100 million to pay for renovations.
The start of the naming-rights process also means a likely end to the prospects of the NFL's returning to the Coliseum. Since the Raiders left Los Angeles in 1994, the NFL has repeatedly flirted with returning a team to the region and to the Coliseum itself, at least temporarily until a new stadium could be built. The prospect of a naming-rights deal could have helped lure a new pro team.But the Coliseum Commission's Mr. Israel said those talks have been dead since 2006, at which time the Coliseum Commission focused on signing a long-term lease with USC. Last month, the two sides signed a 25-year lease giving the Coliseum Commission 8% of USC's ticket sales -- about $1.5 million a year -- but commits the agency to a list of renovations.
With voters in California against public funding for sports stadiums, commission leaders said naming rights became the only way to pay for the projects.
"We needed a bigger boost," said Pat Lynch, the stadium's general manager. "When the naming-rights deal comes, we'll have the money we need."
LA Observed calls the idea of selling out the 85-year-old landmark "civic heresy."
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