Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., targeted by lawmakers for paying $400 million to put its name on the New York Mets’ new ballpark, and seven other banks that received government funds may face questioning by Congress for spending $845 million on stadium sponsorships.

Bank of America Corp., which like Citigroup received $45 billion in government funds, is paying $140 million to have its name on football’s Carolina Panthers stadium. JPMorgan Chase & Co., which received $25 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, is spending $66 million for branding Chase Field in Phoenix, home to baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks.

Ohio Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich, who last week urged the Treasury department to cancel Citibank’s deal, called spending by banks for naming rights “frivolous” and said Feb. 3 that he plans to hold hearings. Companies that received TARP funds are under scrutiny as President Barack Obama and lawmakers respond to public outcry over executive bonuses and questionable expenditures.

“I am not aware of any precedent for Congress pressing to void contracts that are not illegal,” said Ettie Ward, a law professor at St John’s University in Queens, New York, who edited “Courting the Yankees,” a book on legal issues in sports.

Mets Deal

In 2006 when Citigroup signed the 20-year agreement with the Mets, the costliest in U.S. sports, the lender said the partnership would raise its profile among customers. Now the company may lose potential clients because of a backlash against the deal, said David Carter, executive director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

“It’s quickly becoming the sports-marketing poster child for the entire financial meltdown,” Carter said of Citigroup in an interview. “You may be harming the relationships you are trying to build.”

The eight banks received a total of $153.4 billion from the $700 billion U.S. bailout and are spending a combined $845 million for naming rights. U.S. banks have had $745 billion in losses and writedowns since the subprime mortgage crisis began in 2007.

Kucinich, chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in an interview on Feb. 3 that banks in trouble shouldn’t be paying for naming rights.

Cummings’s Legislation

“If you are in trouble financially, you don’t worry about putting your name on a baseball stadium,” said Kucinich. “It’s that simple.”

Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland yesterday introduced legislation requiring past and future TARP beneficiaries to disclose details on compensation, executive travel, marketing expenditures and corporate sponsorships.

Spokesmen for Bank of America, JPMorgan, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. defended spending for naming rights and sports sponsorships. Representatives for two of the eight banks, M&T Bank Corp. and Comerica Inc., didn’t return calls seeking comment.

“We understand the TARP funding is an obligation to taxpayers that we intend to pay back with premium,” said Joe Goode, spokesman for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America. “The only way we can do that is to pursue revenue- generating activities like these business relationships with sports organizations.”

Companies need to be careful how they handle their partnerships during the economic turmoil, Carter said.

‘No TARP’

“This will pass and sponsors and sports teams and leagues will once again have to do business with each other,” he said. “How they handle these current deals and work their way through them, and out of them, is going to have long-term ramifications if it’s perceived they’ll do whatever they can to get out.”

Citigroup was seeking ways to pull out of the Mets’ sponsorship, the Wall Street Journal reported Feb 3. The team said the agreement is still binding.

“No TARP capital will be used for Citi Field or for marketing purposes,” Citigroup said in a statement on Feb 3.

“We continue to review all our expenses from travel to real estate costs to staffing during this challenging time in the economy,” JPMorgan spokesman Tom Kelly said.

Wells Fargo, which received $25 billion, has its newly acquired Wachovia brand on the Philadelphia arena where basketball’s 76ers and hockey’s Flyers play. The cost: $40 million.

PNC Park

“Wells Fargo takes a very thoughtful approach to evaluating sponsorships and making decisions about them,” said Mary Beth Navarro, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco-based bank. “We balance the cost of a sponsorship, the bottom-line business benefit, the cost of exiting a sponsorship and the broader economic impact a cancellation may have on local communities and businesses.”

PNC Financial Services, which received $7.6 billion in TARP funds, is paying $40 million to get its name on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ ballpark.

“PNC’s naming rights at PNC Park is part of our overall marketing and advertising effort,” said spokesman Fred Solomon “It has been a successful partnership.”

Bank of New York Mellon Corp., whose name is on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ hockey arena, received $3 billion. The bank’s 10-year, $18 million deal with the Penguins expires at the end of this hockey season. Consol Energy Inc. agreed in December to become the naming-rights partner for Pittsburgh’s new arena that is scheduled to open in 2010.

Pending Requests

Comerica, which received $2.25 billion, is paying $66 million for the rights to the Detroit Tigers’ baseball park. The Baltimore Ravens football stadium is named after M&T Bank, which received $600 million in TARP money and is spending $75 million for naming rights.

At least two other banks that have applied for TARP funds are paying for naming rights. BankAtlantic Bancorp. Inc., which requested $124 million, is spending $27 million to have its name on the arena where the Florida Panthers play hockey. Raymond James Financial Inc., which is spending $45 million for having its name on the stadium where football’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers play, also asked for funds.

To contact the reporters on this story: Joshua Fineman in New York at jfineman@bloomberg.net; Danielle Sessa in New York at dsessa@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 5, 2009 12:52 EST