Ballclub swings deal with Enron

HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros have agreed to pay Enron Corp. $2.1-million for the right to remove the fallen energy trader's name from its ballpark.

Enron Field will be renamed Astros Field until a new sponsor can be found, the club announced Wednesday.

The now bankrupt company had agreed in 1999 to a pay $100-million over 30 years for the rights. Enron was current on its ballpark payments through Aug. 31.

"Its time to move forward," Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr. said Wednesday. "I am very happy that we have been able to reach this settlement and put this issue behind us."

Jeff McMahon, Enron president and chief operating officer, said the company was "pleased to have resolved this issue with the Astros with a deal that is beneficial to all parties, including Enron's creditors and the city of Houston."

The deal requires approval by the New York federal bankruptcy court handling the Enron case. A hearing that had been set for Wednesday afternoon was postponed.

But the Astros already began ridding the team's Web site of Enron references Wednesday afternoon.

McLane said Enron's name, featured repeatedly in huge blue letters or with its logo in the center of a baseball diamond, will be removed or covered with tarps. He said some of the signs are so huge that cranes will be needed inside and outside the retractable-roof ballpark to remove them. At least seven companies with Houston ties have expressed interest in renaming the ballpark, McLane said. He declined to name them, but said he hopes to strike a new deal within two months.

This month, the Astros told the bankruptcy court that the team is being harmed financially by the negative publicity surrounding the company's accounting scandal.

"Because the Enron name blankets the stadium, thousands of people who have been adversely affected by the Enron collapse are being reminded on a daily basis of this continuing tragedy," the team wrote in its Feb. 5 filing to the court handling Enron's bankruptcy case.

Enron had previously argued that there was no provision in the contract that allows the team to back out unilaterally.

Separately, Bankruptcy Court Judge Arthur Gonzalez denied Enron's request to immediately release up to $30-million in insurance money to pay for the legal defense of current and former officers and directors.

Enron creditors fought the bid; they want that money to be available as possible compensation in lawsuits against those executives.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright