Watching Monday’s football game from the new University of Phoenix Stadium, Wall Street blogger StockJockey at Under the Counter noted how many a financially scandalous future have followed companies after they bought naming rights to sports arenas.
The Houston Astros, of course, played on Enron Field. Others include Adelphia Field, CMGI Field, 3Com Park, First Union Center and Invesco Field at Mile High.
And there’s University of Phoenix Stadium, named after an outfit whose parent company is under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office for its stock option grant practices – and who just reported such a terrible last quarter that one analyst questioned the health of the business model.
“Slap your name on a stadium and we will short your stock,” he writes. “Because this is one investment methodology that is as foolproof as it gets on Wall Street.”
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