Stadium’s Name Up in the Air

3Com Corp. may keep its name on the San Francisco 49ers’ stadium even though the company has just told the National Football League team it won’t renew its current naming rights contract.

3Com, a maker of computer networking equipment in nearby Santa Clara, Calif., may negotiate a new contract after its agreement expires Jan. 31, the company and the 49ers said.

49ers spokesman Sam Singer said 3Com, which cut half of its 12,000 workers after reporting losses of $232.4 million in the first quarter, might be trying to improve its negotiating position by saying it won’t renew the contract. The company has been paying the 49ers $1 million a year to have its name on the stadium.

“This could be a negotiating ploy on their part,� Singer said. “With the demise of the dot-coms and the dip in travel since Sept. 11, naming rights deals aren’t worth what they used to be, especially in Northern California.�

Under terms of the contract, 3Com was required either to renew the agreement or to give the 49ers notice that it didn’t plan to keep its name on the stadium, the company and the team said.

“We just exercised the option in our contract because we had to,� said 3Com spokeswoman Pamela Sklar. “We’re perfectly willing to negotiate.�

Although 3Com said it doesn’t plan to renew the contract, it said it still has the option of negotiating a new agreement. That’s what the company did two years ago, when it told the 49ers it didn’t intend to renew the agreement and then decided to keep its name on the stadium.

3Com has renewed its agreement with the 49ers twice since it purchased the naming rights in 1995. The stadium, which is owned by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, was called Candlestick Park before the name change.

The 49ers’ naming rights agreement with the city also expires Jan. 31, which complicates the situation. The 49ers bought the naming rights for the stadium in 1995 for $900,000 a year, then sold them to 3Com.