LITTLE ROCK — War Memorial Stadium’s field is emblazoned with a new name - “AT&T Field” - under a five-year deal announced Wednesday, but stadium and company officials aren’t saying how much it cost to have the words prominently displayed.
Details of the deal are being kept under wraps by officials who claim the information is proprietary and not subject to the state’s Freedom of Information Act, though the stadium is a state-owned facility and commissioners are appointed by the governor.
However, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel released a statement late Wednesday saying the commissioners shouldn’t have yielded to pressure from the company to include a privacy clause guarding the details of the deal.
“I have not talked to the commissioners about their justification for withholding details in this matter, but as a general rule I do not support conducting the public’s business in secret,” he said.
Gary Smith, chairman of the governor-appointed commission, said Wednesday after a news conference announcing the agreement that AT&T had asked that the specifics be kept secret for “competitive reasons.”
“I can’t disclose the actual value, but it was very favorable to the stadium and is totally consistent with the value that was placed on the sponsorship by sports marketing professionals,” he said.“I don’t feel like I can say anything until I am advised by our attorney from the [Arkansas attorney general’s] office.”
McDaniel said in the statement that “of course, the Commission is my client and my office will represent it in court with regard to any decision it makes about releasing information to the public.”
“My office advised the War Memorial Stadium Commission to include a provision in its contract with AT&T that the contract may be public, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act,” he said. “From a policy standpoint, I believe the people of Arkansas have a strong interest in knowing the terms of this contract, and I believe it should be revealed to the public.”
Other multimillion-dollar naming-rights deals in the state have been publicly disclosed.
Alltel, the telecommunications company that is now part of Verizon, paid $7 million for a 20-year contract to the naming rights at the North Little Rock arena before it opened in 1999. Ten years later, the naming rights to the arena, owned by Pulaski County and located in North Little Rock, transferred to Verizon when the company was sold. Smith said late Wednesday that he was not being deliberately evasive and that he might have more information to share today.
“AT&T wanted to keep it as proprietary information for competitive reasons because they obviously go against competition for sponsorships at other venues and we also are trying to gain other sponsorships and so forth. That’s why it was in the agreement in the first place,” Smith said. “I have alegal agreement that I have to abide by and I’m going to abide by that agreement until I am advised to do otherwise.”
In AT&T’s deal, the playing field will be named “AT&T Field”; outside, the company’s sign will replace a Bank of America sign that faces Markham Street; AT&T signs will also be inside and outside the stadium and the company’s name will be on directional signs guiding guests to and from the arena, Smith said.
He said AT&T approached the commission about a year ago about the possibility of a sponsorship at the stadium.
“We have literally been discussing it off and on for a year,” he said. The commission meets once every three months.
The stadium was built in 1948, sits on public land and is surrounded by the public War Memorial Park. It hosts University of Arkansas football games as well as the Delta Classic between the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Grambling State University in Louisiana. Both events are significant economic engines for the city.
The stadium is undergoing renovations. An $8 million press box is expected to open in August in time for the 2010 Razorback football season. The Hogs will also be playing on new turf.
Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola said he had no further details about the deal but called it “great.”
“War Memorial Stadium is a very venerable stadium,” he said.
“Under the leadership of the commission and Chairman Gary Smith, some great improvements have been made over the past eight or nine years. It’s looking great. When it’s all said and done, the city will be putting more than $2 million into the park around the stadium. They’re making it one of the great stadiums in the state.”
Front Section, Pages 1 on 06/24/2010