That cute nickname, "The Clays," and the tainted name behind the Barclays Center (which may not last)

It's kinda cute, I guess, calling the Barclays Center "The Clays," a partial parallel to shorthanding Madison Square Garden as "The Garden" (which at least refers to an actual thing). 

According to language maven Barry Popik, there were some fitful attempts to call it "Clays" or "The Clays" from the arena's 2012 debut, but the nickname was popularized by Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant on 10/22/21, in a post-game interview.

“Next we got a young, athletic team in Charlotte coming to the ‘clays, so we gotta keep that intensity.” - @KDTrey5

— Nets Smoothies (@NetsSmoothies) October 23, 2021

Hey, KD's a trendsetter, he's cool. That was picked up by team owner Joe Tsai, who also owns the arena operating company, and even the arena's own Twitter account.  

BACK AT THE CLAYS😎 https://t.co/llMXZWEaou

— Barclays Center (@barclayscenter) November 16, 2021

It's been mentioned by NetsDaily, the New York Daily News, and the Talkin Nets podcast, among others.

The bigger picture

I doubt the nicknamers, including KD, were thinking much about the bank that bought naming rights.

But it's very much in the arena operating company's interest to distance itself from Barclays, however much Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr has cemented itself as a subway destination.

It's a tainted bank--like a lot of banks. After all, I argued in 2015, after Barclays pleaded guilty to a felony in fixing the foreign exchange market, existing contracts for the Brooklyn arena required New York state to boot Barclays from the naming rights deal.

No one tried to pursue that, or rebut my argument. They just ignored it.

There's even more taint. As the Wall Street Journal reported 11/1/21, Barclays CEO Jes Staley Steps Down Amid Pressure Over Epstein Ties:

Barclays said Mr. Staley stepped down “in view of the conclusions” made by U.K. regulators in its long-running investigation into what Mr. Staley told the bank about his association with Mr. Epstein and what it told regulators about the relationship. Barclays shares fell 3% in early trading Monday morning in London.

The bank said the investigation didn’t find evidence that “Mr. Staley saw, or was aware of, any of Mr. Epstein’s alleged crimes” and said Mr. Staley was planning to contest the conclusions made by regulators.

Some people notice. One NetsDaily commenter observed:

I sure hope Brooklyn changes the name of their beautiful arena someday soon.
Barclay's is a disgusting financial institution.

adding:

Barclay's paid $450 million in fines over the Libor fixing. That's a great business model if they stole a billion.
If a college basketball player gets caught shaving points for $5,000 he goes to jail. When Barclay's fixes the big game it gets to name the arena.

Will the name change?

The 20-year naming rights agreement was ballyhooed in 2007 at $400 million but actually $300 million, then renegotiated in 2008-9 to $200 million, or $10 million a year. It runs until 2032.

While initially important to the legitimacy of the arena financing, it's now way undervalued, given recent deals around the league, such as a reported $35 million a year deal in Los Angeles. It's hard to imagine that Tsai and Barclays aren't talking about a renegotiation, or an early exit.

That would complicate things for the transit system--new station name and maps--but seems like an inevitable business decision.

And if there's a new sponsor, well, bye to "The Clays."