Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
As the council approves the Tampa Tribune's offer, the owner of the nude club makes an offer for naming rights.
By DAVID KARP, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 27, 2002
TAMPA -- These days, a business with enough money can put its name on almost any public building.
The Tampa Bay area has Raymond James Stadium, Tropicana Field and the St. Pete Times Forum.
So what about the Mons Venus streetcar station?
Joe Redner, the owner of the nude club, appeared Thursday before the City Council and offered to pay $150,000 to name one of Tampa's new streetcar stations after his nationally known club.
"I am serious," Redner said.
So are the operators of the $53.8-million electric streetcar system, who told Redner they were willing to talk.
They could use the money. For about a year, they have been trying to sell naming rights to the 11 streetcar stations in the system that runs between downtown and Ybor City.
With the grand opening set for Oct. 19, only a few of the stations have been sold.
The system hopes to grab tourists unloading from cruise ships or arriving for a convention. Those are exactly the people Redner wants to grab for his strip club on N Dale Mabry Highway.
City Council member Rose Ferlita said Redner should be given an opportunity to buy one of the station names.
She asked officials to assure her that they would treat Redner's offer fairly.
"Mr. Redner is no different than Mr. Smith," Ferlita said.
Redner made the offer after reading in the St. Petersburg Times that the Tampa Tribune was negotiating to buy naming rights to one of the streetcar stations.
The Tribune's station would be near the recently named St. Pete Times Forum, the arena in downtown Tampa formerly known as the Ice Palace. The Times bought the arena's naming rights for more than $30-million over 12 years.
The Tribune's streetcar station deal, which was approved Thursday by the City Council, says the Tribune will give the streetcar operators $125,000 worth of free advertising to name a station.
Redner said he would pay $150,000 -- in cash.
He called the 10-year deal a good investment.
"What is that? Fifteen thousand a year? That is really, really cheap," he said.
Ferlita welcomed the competition.
"If it is a matter of a business sale, he's offering more than the Tribune," she said. "Business dictates you go to the highest bidder."
The Tribune has said that it has not agreed to the contract that the City Council voted to accept Thursday.
Tribune marketing director Amy Chown told Editor & Publisher that the newspaper has not agreed to give $125,000 in free advertising for the station's naming rights. She called news of the deal "premature."
Chown did not return a phone call Thursday from a Times reporter.
But streetcar officials did not withdraw the contract from the City Council's agenda Thursday night. The deal passed unanimously.
If the Tribune won't accept the deal, Redner might get to buy the naming rights to the station. If not, Redner said he would prefer the station by the Tampa Convention Center.
Michael English, the chairman of the Tampa Historic Streetcar Inc. board, called Redner on Thursday and invited him to make a proposal.
"We would entertain an endowment contribution from Mr. Redner," English said.
He declined to say whether the board would allow a station to be named after the Mons.
But English noted that the streetcar board recently adopted the advertising policy of the county bus system.
The HARTline policy forbids advertising that contains "adult themes, activities or products."
"It's probably not going to fly," HARTline spokesman Ed Crawford said of a Mons Venus station.
Redner said he would design a graceful sign on the Mons Venus station. There would be no pictures of nude dancers.
"I would like to do it in a very tasteful way," he said.