The Livestrong and Sporting partnership should have lasted longer
Perhaps it was the classic case of the pre-emptive breakup. One partner sees it coming and turns the tables. ESPN reported Tuesday night that Sporting Kansas City was terminating its stadium naming-rights deal with famed cancer charity Livestrong. The network reported that Livestrong had initiated the separation by complaining about money it was supposedly owed by the soccer team, and Sporting finished the split and went public. Sporting had been stalwart in keeping the bright-yellow Livestrong sign on its stadium, despite the charity’s association with founder and shamed cyclist Lance Armstrong.
But with Armstrong slated to spill his guts to Oprah Winfrey in an interview airing Thursday and Friday, it looks as though Livestrong read the tea leaves: Sporting couldn’t wade any further into this cyclone of crappy PR. (Although nobody has ever publicly said that Sporting wanted to end the relationship prior to Tuesday night.)
