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For the first time since 1999, the Washington Commanders won’t be playing at FedEx Field. Well, they’ll be playing at FedEx Field, it just won’t be called FedEx Field after the company surprisingly decided to pull of out its naming rights deal with the team.
FedEx agreed to a $205 million naming rights deal with Washington back in 1999 and that was supposed to run through the 2026 season. However, there was a clause in the contract that allowed the company to opt out of the deal if the team ever underwent an ownership change, so FedEx decided to take advantage of that.
Josh Harris purchased the Commanders from Dan Snyder in a $6.05 billion deal that was officially approved in July, which opened the door for FedEx to drop out of the naming rights deal. According to the Washington Post, the Commanders will now lose out on $15 million that they were expected to receive from FedEx for the naming rights over the next two years. Although FedEx has jumped ship on the stadium name, the company will keep a separate sponsorship that was already in place.
“We continuously review our marketing programs to ensure our investments are aligned with our evolving business objectives,” FedEx said in a statement to The Associated Press. “As part of this review, we have decided to not continue as the naming rights sponsor of FedEx Field as we focus on our broader NFL sponsorship and opportunities that reflect our global footprint.”
According to the Post, FedEx’s decision to back out of the deal caught the Commanders by “surprise.”
The chairman of FedEx, Fred Smith, actually used to be a minority owner of the Commanders. Smith bought a small chunk of the team in 2003 and he held onto it until 2021. By the time he sold his portion of the team, he was in a bitter dispute with Snyder. At one point, Snyder took out a $55 million loan against the team, but he didn’t receive the permission from his three…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/commanders-get-blindsided-by-fedex-with-company-deciding-to-pull-out-of-205-million-stadium-naming-deal/
Author : John Breech
Publish date : 2024-02-29 18:19:10
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