The telecomm firm paid $5 million over 10 years for naming rights to the popular Shreveport-area venue. That deal expires in October 2010, and Bossier City officials want to see if the next deal is worth more.Bossier City (La.) officials are shopping the naming rights to CenturyTel Center in anticipation of the current deal ending in October 2010.
The question: whether a new deal is worth more than the original $5 million, 10-year deal.
"I am real interested to see what the new price could be," Councilman David Jones told the Shreveport Times. "It was a $5 million deal when the building was unproven. Now it’s been such a tremendous success, a world-ranked facility, I think it will draw a premium price from somebody."
Perhaps, perhaps not; Bossier City officials say a hike is justified because of the national exposure generated by events held in the arena, but a look at other similar-naming rights deals may show CenturyTel is already paying the right amount. And CenturyTel does have an option to renew, which much be exercised by April 2010.
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