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Bank of America Corp is close to finalizing a deal worth as much as $20 million a year to become the biggest sponsor of the new Yankee Stadium, the New York Post reported on Tuesday.

While the extensive deal being discussed would not include naming rights to the entire new ballpark -- home of the New York Yankees baseball team -- it would make the bank the most visible sponsor there, the Post said, citing an unnamed source.

The sponsorship package could fetch as much as $20 million a year and includes prime exposure in and around the stadium, the newspaper said. Analysts said the deal likely would keep the Yankee Stadium name and the team would not look to cut another deal with a different company to rename the ballpark.

Built in 1923, the old Yankee Stadium in New York's Bronx borough is closing at the end of the season, and the team will move to the new ballpark next door. Bank of America is the official bank of Major League Baseball, and has sponsorship deals with several teams, including the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

"Our long-standing sponsorship of the New York Yankees is very important, but it's premature to comment on any plans to expand upon our relationship," Charles Greenstein, the bank's head of baseball sponsorship, said in a statement.

Officials with the Yankees declined to comment about the report.

Banks have been trying to attract more customers and win deposits after housing and credit problems in recent years have resulted in more than $500 billion of write-downs and credit losses industry-wide.

While Bank of America's profit has declined for four straight quarters, it has suffered less from the crisis than large rivals such as Citigroup Inc and Wachovia Corp.

Bank of America has perhaps the most extensive sports sponsorship portfolio of any major bank, including deals with the U.S. Olympic Committee, the National Football League and NASCAR. It also has naming rights for the Carolina Panthers football stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Such a deal would mark another big-money naming rights agreement with a New York-area sports team by a financial services company.

Citigroup and Barclays Plc have each agreed to pay a reported $20 million a year for naming rights to the homes of the New York Mets baseball and New Jersey Nets basketball teams, respectively. The Mets are building a new stadium near their current park, Shea Stadium in the New York borough of Queens, while the Nets plan to move to a new arena in Brooklyn from the Meadowlands in northern New Jersey.

Possibly the biggest deal of all could still be to come, as the New York Giants and New York Jets football teams are in talks on a deal for their new jointly owned stadium at the Meadowlands, scheduled to open in 2010. The New York Times recently reported that talks with German financial services company Allianz AG could result in a deal topping $25 million a year.

Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal reported that the Yankee Stadium deal would include prime signage in and around the park for Bank of America, which was competing with JPMorgan Chase & Co for the agreement.

The deal also would include large signs on the highways around the stadium, prominent exposure on the stadium's main entrance and atop the stadium and the right-field scoreboard, permanent dugout branding and behind-the-plate signage, and a logo on all Yankees tickets, the SportsBusiness Journal said.

Also included would be media time on the Yankees cable TV network, YES, and flagship radio station, and access to some high-priced, front-row seats in the new stadium, the SportsBusiness Journal said.

(Source: Reuters)