The Bottom Line: Cardinals Stadium owners say no to Pink Taco, too

In all the hoopla Monday surrounding the Pink Taco’s play to win the naming rights of the new Arizona Cardinals stadium, nobody asked the stadium’s owner what it thought.

The Arizona Tourism and Sports Authority, which owns and operates the facility, has a certain amount of input on naming rights thanks to a use agreement with the team that deals with community decency standards.

“We certainly have the ability to help direct the naming rights,” said Charles Foley, authority chief financial officer and treasurer. “On this one, we’re absolutely arm-in-arm and see eye-to-eye with the Cardinals on it. There’s no way the stadium would be named what the Morton group (Pink Taco owners) wants it to be named.”

Foley said the authority does not have ultimate say on the name.

“It’s just like when we were choosing a stadium management operator, the Cardinals had input into who that choice would be so you just work closely together,” Foley said. “You meet a couple of times, you compare notes. Nothing has happened on the naming rights deal. We haven’t asked to be involved and we certainly don’t have the right to be involved as the Cardinals are negotiating with companies according to what we’re seeing. Once there looks to be something on the table, the authority has contractually the ability to place its input on that name.”

FORECLOSURES STEADY

One might think the chilly real estate market would be starting to have some impact on home foreclosures. But the increase has been minimal — so far at least.

Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac recently disclosed foreclosures nationally in July were up 5 percent from June and 18 percent from the July 2005. In Arizona, foreclosure rates fell about 5 percent in July compared to the month earlier, but were up 1 percent from July 2005. The state ranked 12th nationally for foreclosures while Colorado, Nevada and Texas posted the top rates. One of every 1,078 homes in Arizona is in foreclosure proceedings.

RealtyTrac’s most recent data shows the Phoenix-Mesa area 37th on the list of foreclosures among the nation’s 100 largest metro areas. During the second quarter, rates dipped 6 percent from the same time in 2005, the study showed. Indianapolis, Atlanta, Dallas and Denver had the highest foreclosure rates among cities.

There may be some evidence things could get worse here.

Sacramento, Calif.-based Foreclosures.com said several western markets, including the Valley, saw foreclosure activity rise sharply after a first-quarter dip.

While California leads the pack with a 67 percent increase in the second quarter compared to the same time last year, hot housing markets in Las Vegas and Phoenix were cooling off rapidly and defaults there were on the rise as well, said Alexis McGee, president.