Pink Taco's owners make bid to name Cards stadium
Louie Villalobos
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 21, 2006 02:55 PM
First, they shook up the Scottsdale establishment. Now the family behind the Pink Taco restaurant chain is rattling the Arizona Cardinals' cage.
Would you believe Pink Taco Stadium? That's what the Morton family, famous for creating the Hard Rock Café and Morton's Steakhouse, is saying they want to name Cardinals Stadium.
They are offering $30 million for 10 years as evidence of their commitment and are promising to pursue an agreement with the Arizona Cardinals.
One problem. The Cardinals, who control the stadium's naming rights, said they want no part of that name.
Harry Morton, president and CEO of Pink Taco, said his group is prepared to use the $30 million as a starting point. He held a press conference Monday to announce the stadium proposal.
The family said it offered the Cardinals a $5 million good faith check during a meeting last week to show that they are serious about the proposal.
The Cardinals took the presentation as a joke and dismissed the Monday press conference by the family as a publicity stunt.
"There is zero chance of this happening," said Mark Dalton, director of media relations for the Cardinals. "We are in serious and legitimate naming rights discussion with several companies, this is not one of them."
Locally, the restaurant, named after a slang term for the vulva, caused a stir in Scottsdale when Mayor Mary Manross objected to the restaurant's opening in Scottsdale's Waterfront project.
Dalton said the team doesn't wanted to be associated with the Pink Taco brand, but wouldn't say exactly why.
Morton said on Monday that his family is very serious about the naming deal. He plans to meet with the Arizona Cardinals in the coming days. The Cardinals said there is no scheduled meeting.
The family dismissed the team's reaction as a "knee jerk" one and stated the proposal was not an attempt to get more publicity for the restaurant.
"We're talking about $30 million," he said. "That's an expensive publicity stunt."
A Pink Taco restaurant will be opened in Los Angeles early next year. The company is working on building a second restaurant in Arizona and looking at future sites in San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago and Dallas.
