The Barclays Center is due to open in less than three months, but its name could be tarnished by news that three of the London bank’s top executives are resigning over a rate-manipulation scandal, says the New York Times.
Barclays is paying $200 million over the next 20 years for naming rights to the Atlantic Yards arena, but will the bank’s episode ultimately turn into an embarrassment for the arena?
The Times looks back on other stadiums who have undergone multiple name changes, including Houston’s short-lived Enron Stadium and the brief tenure of East Rutherford, N.J.'s Allianz Stadium—named for a bank with historic ties to Adolf Hitler and the Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps.
The Huffington Post argues that this will definitey not destroy the Barclays Center arena's reputation—after all, who is thinking of Citigroup's 2009 government bailout scandal when they go to see a Mets game at Citi Field?
But should arenas even sell naming rights? Sure, its guaranteed big bucks, but stadiums like Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field and Fenway Park still retain names untarnished by banking scandals. Let us know your thoughts about the Barclays banking scandal in the comments section, and whether or not this changes your view of the stadium.
