Comcast, in deal with Congress, acquires naming rights to US Capitol

Tom Paine

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In a major, unprecedented agreement announced today, Comcast has entered into a long-term contract with the United States Congress to acquire the naming rights to the US Capital, which will now be known as The Comcast US Capital.

The proceeds received from Comcast will help offset the mushrooming expenditures needed to maintain and fund major rennovations of the Capitol, while Comcast will provide state of the art technology services and receive some valuable rights.

"Comcast has already paid for this place two times over", said one member of Congress who wished to remain unidentified, "so this is just a logical evolution," he added as he carefully placed a check for his PAC appearing to contain the Comcast logo into his wallet.


As part of the agreement, a new building will be added on the Capital grounds, The David L. Cohen Building. The new tower will house Comcast's ever growing DC staff, giving them closer access to members of Congress and their staffers as Comcast continues to negotiate its complete takeover of the nation's telecommunications assets.

Comcast will install all the latest communications and video gear in the Capitol, including TV Everywhere, its X1 platform, gigabit internet access, and Wi-Fi hotspots. It will also gain exclusive rights to stream all deliberations of both houses and of committee hearings, and have exclusive interview rights with all members of Congress while on Capitol Hill grounds. A new 24 hour cable channel will broadcast live from within Capitol Hill, just as sister channel CNBC broadcasts live from the NYSE.

Comcast said in a statement that it saw numerous multimedia programming opportunities
coming out of the arrangement, and the potential to turn the Capitol Hills grounds into
a theme park akin to the company's Universal Orlando.

Congress did balk at one Comcast request, however, denying it the right to place the
Comcast logo over the inside of the Capitol dome. But the logo will be displayed in several prominent locations on the Capitol's grounds.


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