San Francisco sold the naming rights to 3Com Corp. in 1995 for 6 months for $500k. In 1996, the deal was extended, with the Silicon Valley company paying approximately $900,000 annually to the parks and recreation department. After 3Com Corp. announced that it would relinquish its naming rights, the city began a search for a new corporate sponsor willing to pay big bucks to have its name on the park, associated with the San Francisco 49ers.

However, a new naming rights proposal would have set up an equal split of the revenue between the city and the 49ers. Only one part of this proposal passed this week--advertising in the stadium--which is expected to bring in about $625,000 for the city and about $700,000 for park upkeep.

With this week's vote, the team's deal with the city's Recreation and Park Department was canceled, which means that nearly a million dollars in annual revenue will be lost. The supervisors tied 5-5 on the naming rights vote. Proponents argued that the city-owned stadium is a business and should be used as one. Opponents argued that the private naming of public facilities is an unabashed form of corporate public relations, saying that all naming rights should be banned.