When you think of an NFL rivalry that has formed over the past few decades, there are some that obviously stand out:
Bengals and Browns;
49ers and Seahawks;
Ravens vs Steelers;
Jets vs Patriots;
and others. The rivalry/animosity between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints fan bases is probably one of those that should be mentioned in the same sentence as the rivalries I noted above. Within my own Twitter family, I have a TON of Falcons and Saints fans. There is absolutely NO love lost between these two fan bases, and every year, the insults, trash talking and barbs thrown grow more and more epic. There’s now a new twist that was just thrown in this year.
Falcons & Saints rivalry fueled: Mercedez-Benz purchase naming rights for ATL Stadium
Everyone is very well aware that the New Orleans Superdome had its naming rights purchased in 2011 by Mercedez-Benz, a 10 year deal between the Saints and the German Auto maker. No specific dollar amount was ever made public, though it is common knowledge that the Saints received the first $1M of this deal and that the remaining part of the deal would be a 50/50 split between the Saints and the State of Louisiana.
Today, it was announced that Mercedes-Benz will be signing a 30 year Naming Rights deal with the new Atlanta Falcons stadium, with an estimated yearly payment of $13 – $19M, annually. The fact that Mercedes-Benz not only relocated their US office to Atlanta (from New Jersey) and is building a new production facility (to open in 2017… approximately the same time as the new Falcons Stadium) should surprise… well… absolutely no one.
This will be the fourth Stadium Naming Rights deal that Mercedes-Benz now has, and their second US one. Naturally, the New Orleans Saints fan base is absolutely lividly shocked by today’s announcement:
What in the actual hell?! https://t.co/6BEth7SvqZ
— Belle Es You (@SouthernbeLLSU) August 21, 2015
I’m not surprised by Belle’s reaction. Today will only further drive a huge wedge between the Falcons and Saints faithful…
