Last week this column made a bid for the naming rights to the Louisiana Superdome—or, as we hope it will soon be called, the Moneybox Superdome. I put a solid $300 on the table, which may not sound like much, but is easily the highest public bid that I’m aware of.
Well, I’m now prepared to up that by as much as a whopping 50 percent, thanks to a new consortium of investors that has emerged to get in on the deal. Reader Larry A. has promised to kick in “up to $50,” although with the caveat that he’ll only do it to help me win a bidding war. And reader Jay K. pledges another $100, apparently with no strings attached. (Other readers wrote to express support for the bid, which was very nice of them, but made no mention of dollars.)
Meanwhile, the Saints were not only formally eliminated from the playoff picture this past weekend (they still had a very slim mathematical chance when I wrote last week’s item), but they played horribly in a blowout loss to Washington. Pessimism about the franchise’s chances for major national coverage next year, let alone a trip to the playoffs, obviously makes my bid look even more generous, since I’m raising my offer even as the value of the naming rights sinks. The catch is that I want the Moneybox Superdome renamed before this year’s Super Bowl. After all, the value of the naming rights drops even more significantly after that. Maybe another bidder will emerge before the big game—but it looks to me like this negotiation is going my way.
