Does Your Sponsorship Contract Need A Relocation Clause?

What effect does speculation about a team move have on sponsorship contracts? According to the San Diego Reader, at least one of the San Diego Chargers contracts was recently amended to give the sponsor an out clause in the case of a team move (note: the team says they've been part of agreements since '07). The University of California San Diego Health Sciences division signed a four-year agreement with the San Diego Chargers last March, but between now and then the San Diego Reader writes that handwritten amendments were made to the $1.3 million contract.

From the San Diego Reader:

"There’s a last-minute contract change initialed by Spanos and the university: the final two years of the deal are marked by asterisks, with a handwritten note at the bottom of the page saying, “If terminated per ‘expiration date’ clause in this Attachment A, these sponsorship fees will not be applicable.” Another clause in the contract says that if the Chargers “permanently relocate and play their Home Games at a location other than [Qualcomm] Stadium, [the Chargers] and Sponsor shall each have the right to terminate this Agreement upon written notice to the other, and the parties will negotiate in good faith to determine equitable terms for such termination.”

With a labor stoppage approaching, ambush on the rise, teams relocating and several ongoing category exclusivity disputes, was there ever a better time to be a 'sponsorship law' expert?

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