Cardinals Stadium owners say no to Pink Taco

[Arizona Tribune] - In all the hoopla Monday surrounding the Pink Taco’s play to win the naming rights of the new Arizona Cardinals stadium, nobody asked the stadium’s owner what it thought.

The Arizona Tourism and Sports Authority, which owns and operates the facility, has a certain amount of input on naming rights thanks to a use agreement with the team that deals with community decency standards.

“We certainly have the ability to help direct the naming rights,” said Charles Foley, authority chief financial officer and treasurer. “On this one, we’re absolutely arm-in-arm and see eye-to-eye with the Cardinals on it. There’s no way the stadium would be named what the Morton group (Pink Taco owners) wants it to be named.”

Foley said the authority does not have ultimate say on the name.

“It’s just like when we were choosing a stadium management operator, the Cardinals had input into who that choice would be so you just work closely together,” Foley said. “You meet a couple of times, you compare notes. Nothing has happened on the naming rights deal. We haven’t asked to be involved and we certainly don’t have the right to be involved as the Cardinals are negotiating with companies according to what we’re seeing. Once there looks to be something on the table, the authority has contractually the ability to place its input on that name.”