• Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, February 3, 2009 11 AM

Given the current political climate, Citigroup is exploring ways to cancel its nearly $400 million marketing deal with the New York Mets, sources say. The agreement calls for Citigroup to pay the team roughly $20 million a year over two decades in return for the rights to plaster its name and logo around the arena, dubbed Citi Field, which is largely built and set to open in April.

Citigroup, eager to quell the controversy over how lenders are using government bailout money, issued a statement that no Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) capital would be used for the stadium. Still, the deal was attacked last week as an example of misplaced spending by financial institutions that needed bailout funds. Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Ted Poe (R-Texas) wrote to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday, asking him to push Citigroup to dissolve the Mets deal.

If Citigroup backs out of its agreement, it likely wouldn't happen immediately and could involve the bank paying a breakup penalty, people familiar with the situation say. "The Mets are fully committed to our contract with Citi," says Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz. A Citigroup spokesman says the bank "signed a legally binding agreement with the New York Mets in 2006."

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