When Sports Sponsorships Go Bad

These days, corporate sports sponsorships are PR nightmares waiting to happen.

Most recent is American International Group's (AIG Quote)sponsorship of England's Manchester United football team. The four-year deal, valued at about $100 million, will not be renewed by the failing insurer when it expires next year.

Indeed, from golfers donning the names of discredited financial firms, to retroactively embarrassing stadium-naming deals -- see: Enron's $100 million, 30-year deal with the Houston Astros, Citigroup's(C Quote) $400 million stadium-naming pact with the New York Mets and Bank of America's(BAC Quote) 20-year naming-rights deal with the Carolina Panthers -- regret is just a bailout or a bankruptcy away. ...