American renegotiating to cut costs at sports arenas FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) =97 American Airlines is renegotiating naming-rights= =20 deals at sports arenas in Dallas and Miami to reduce costs, the company's=20 chief executive said Wednesday. Gerard Arpey said the company had reached a= =20 deal with operators of the American Airlines Center in Dallas to reduce=20 costs by selling back advertising space. American's parent, Fort=20 Worth-based AMR, has lost more than $6 billion since the beginning of 2001.= =20 AMR signed a $195 million 30-year naming-rights deal with the Dallas arena= =20 in 1998 that calls for annual payments of $6.5 million. The arena is home=20 to pro basketball's Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars hockey team. The= =20 venue is also used for concerts. Arpey said company officials were=20 negotiating a similar deal with the American Airlines Arena in Miami, home= =20 of basketball's Miami Heat. American has a 20-year contract worth $42=20 million for that building. The company declined to provide details on the=20 concessions from arena operators. A spokesman, Tim Wagner, said the airline= =20 considered the information proprietary. The savings were included in $175=20 million worth of concessions from suppliers, aircraft lessors and other=20 creditors, which American announced recently. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.caribbeanfloral.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************