$400 Million Burning Hole in Citi's Pocket

OK, I've been on a little bit of a Citi kick lately ( http://magiccoalcity.blogspot.com/2009/01/citi-responds-to-my-disgust.html ), but with good reason... They canceled the $50 million corporate playtime jet, now this...

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Let’s see here, our stock has tumbled to about 10% of what it was just a year ago, and now we have all of this government money given to us… let’s go put our name on the new Met’s stadium.

Great idea! *heavy sarcasm*

Stupendous idea! *heavier sarcasm*

Here’s a reply from Citi concerning their $400 million expenditure to slap their name on the new Met’s stadium in Queens (they're beginning to hate me):

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Thanks for your email regarding Citi’s advertising and marketing. We appreciate hearing from you again.

Citi's business partnership with the Mets was forged well before the current global financial crisis. We remain committed to this legally binding agreement that is an important marketing priority for the company.

As we work to continue to strengthen our business, Citi Field provides a positive way for Citi to support our community and to connect with present and future customers. Our partnership with the New York Mets establishes a powerful platform to promote our brand, enhance our relationship with current clients, and attract new customers. The partnership expands our considerable community, educational and civic efforts in the region, which is one of the largest business and sports markets in the world.

The partnership has accelerated Citi's significant commitment to the community and education with new resources to develop and launch outreach platforms and programs in and beyond New York City , including extensive support of educational programs such as the Jackie Robinson Foundation and Jackie Robinson Museum .

The scope of the sponsorship will also provide extensive brand visibility throughout a new state-of-the-art ballpark, as well as integration into television-, print-, radio- and on-line media advertising.

No TARP capital will be used for Citi Field or for marketing purposes. For a complete report of Citi’s deployment of TARP funds, please visit http://www.citigroup.com/citi/press/2009/090203a.htm.

We appreciate your feedback and thank you for your continued support.

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If they wanted to support baseball (or softball), receive great marketing, and become ‘good corporate citizens’ again, why didn’t they make available up to, say, 40 grants of $10,000 per youth baseball / softball league in each of the 50 states throughout the United States for the next 20 years in lieu of this deal? Citi could have made a great contest out of it, such as having the teams submit photos with the Citi logo somewhere in it. The press would have been all over that.

That, my friends, would have done a whole lot more good for Citi, small-town America, local merchants, & most importantly America’s youth…