Citi Not Backing Out Of Controversial Stadium Deal, Says Source

NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc said it will use $36.5 billion in taxpayer bailout money to boost lending, while a source told Reuters the bank was not backing out of a controversial $400 million baseball stadium sponsorship deal with the New York Mets.

Both the bank's announcement on its capital deployment plan and the political pressure it faces over the baseball deal reflect the U.S. government's increasing sway over Citigroup, which has been weakened by more than $80 billion in writedowns and credit losses.

Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[hiker61]

02:17 AM on 02/05/2009

I wonder where the steel from the demolition of Shea Stadium is going or being sold to? Back just before the start of WWII the salvaged steel from the Ninth Ave el went to Japan.

[TheGreatPumpkin]

10:47 PM on 02/04/2009

Well, if we the taxpayers are helping fund this, then we the taxpayers ought to get the perks too! The clubhouse seats, free tickets, all the hotdogs we can eat. No one pays, everything is free!!!! After all, it really, partly, belongs to us too!

[feyangel]

07:44 PM on 02/04/2009

Then I want my part of the money we gave Citi back.

[Nancy84]

07:34 PM on 02/04/2009

I have mixed emotions.... the sponsorship would provide or keep jobs in place but would really only help the NY area. Maybe the amounts they spend should be subtracted from New York's share of monies given to the States from the Fed. Bet the contract could be cancelled then.

[LynnW49]

05:46 PM on 02/04/2009

Citi was locked into the contract before, so it seems unlikely they can back out. And then there is the impact on the local (NY area) economy if they do. However, Citi has shown itself over many, many years to be a reprehensible company (just Google "citi scandals", "citi fraud", or "citi corruption"), and one that brought about its own troubles. So, if the Mets deal should stand, even at 10% of our TARP money), then resort to other ways to pressure them. I cut up my card a long time ago, and sent letters to every one on the board because of how they were committing the kind of credit card gouging that we'll finally legislate against in 2010. The very best way to make them feel some pain is to stop doing business of any kind with them and the myriad financial companies that make up CitiGroup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citigroup). And be sure to tell them why.

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

03:01 PM on 02/04/2009

This deal was in place before the market meltdown so it should stay, if Citi can prove the monies used to pay the METS are from prior profits ok if not then.....

[Kiku]

08:23 PM on 02/04/2009

They don't have an profits. No matter how they fudge the numbers, they can do this because they have our money.

[Kiku]

12:32 PM on 02/04/2009

They could use that money to refinance loans for the houses they are trying to foreclose, and have a much stronger PR position by trying to protect people. That would be news to cheer about.

And, a sports field does not deserve that money right now, while banks are pushing people out on the streets to foreclose on their homes because they won't lend them the money at a reasonable rate.

[Kiku]

12:26 PM on 02/04/2009

If you want to respond to this, emails can be sent to Citigroup's chairman at

[e-mail]

[GreatNews27]

12:08 PM on 02/04/2009

So not only do I get to pay Jerry Jones to build a stadium that I cannot afford to even park at, now I get to pay Citi so they can build a stadium for a team 2,000 miles away? Wow, what a deal!!!

[jeffp26]

11:30 AM on 02/04/2009

So the new Shea will still be called "Sh itty Field?"

[jtmoney]

10:40 AM on 02/04/2009

Maybe they should call it "US Taxpayers Ballpark"

[Helzapoppin]

10:31 AM on 02/04/2009

then yank the bailout, simple as that

[myoungholt]

09:56 AM on 02/04/2009

Why am I not surprised? It seems the only people keeping their jobs today are the big bosses. Wonder how long this trend will last? Someone somewhere (sorry, I truly don't remember who or where--juist the substance) remarked that a country can't survive without the jobs provided to the working class--that a financial industry cannot be a country's only industry. And it surely seems like that's that the BIG BOYS are trying to do to the USofA. Our founding concepts don't count for a hoot any more as long as the Madoffs and Thains get theirs.

[VivaZapata]

10:30 AM on 02/04/2009

i used to think the reign of terror during The French Revolution was inexcusable, and I still think it's wrong, but the feelings of resentment are beginning to become more pronounced and understandable.

[goodog]

02:33 PM on 02/04/2009

There will always be drivers, house cleaners, cooks, laborers of various sort to spruce up the lawn and tend to the offspring of the noble.

Don't worry.

Although we've even begun to see off-shore outsourcing for financial professions, work that can be done over the internet, as well as the importing of young, low-paid hires, for positions where face time is still imperative, there will ALWAYS be work for the homeland born American, scrubbing splash off the wall of some public commode or cleansing the detritus of drifters, tramps, and hobos from the sidewalks.

[mjb5406]

09:48 AM on 02/04/2009

Time for taxpayers to do anything they can to run these lowlifes into the ground... stop using their credit cards, move deposits to other banks, etc., etc. Citi does not deserve to remain in business... then they can rename it "Bankrupt Field".

[Invox]

09:19 AM on 02/04/2009

Citi, you have a choice. TARP or baseball. You can't have both.

[aurora57]

09:48 AM on 02/04/2009

What if this is just about having premium seating for Citi execs. It amounts to nothing more than a perk. Is it really just an ego thing? Pretty creepy...