I know it’s nothing new, and I suppose I’ll get used to it after awhile, but still, it just irks me when some big company comes along to emblazon its name on a special events venue. I know there are places like the Staples Center and Safeco Field. These names aren’t really so bad, but the one that’s come to my town has got to be one of the worst I have ever heard! The Boise State University college campus here has a venue for basketball games, concerts, etc. that, up to this point, has simply been called the Boise State Univerity Pavilion, a nice respectable name. Now that it, too, has fallen victim to corporate sponsorship, it shall hereafter be known as (get ready for this)… THE TACO BELL ARENA!!!
ARRRGHHH!!! Couldn’t we have at least gotten something with a little more class than this?! I mean, this is just sooooo damn tacky! Even something like “The Sonic Center” or “Applebee’s Arena” would sound better than “Taco Bell Arena.” I can barely tolerate their food as it is, and the last thing I want to think about while attending a game or a concert there is that 12,000 people sitting around me have all eaten tacos and are simultanously making flatulent contributions to the air (not that this would really be the case, but I can’t help but to think this).
I’d provide a link to the article, but the site requires registration, so I’ll just quote the relevant parts:
There is a web poll along with this article asking people if they like the name change. I just cast my vote on it, and so far, 90% say they don’t like it . Good for them! I suppose the 10% who do like the name change are the ones who are responsible for this move in the first place.
Given a choice between having your university or a multi-billion dollar corporation support the venue, go for the one that’s rich enough to pay to keep it going. So you get a few more billboards, and the food vendors tend to lean towards Taco Bell food. Beats having the doors boarded shut.
I know it’s not even close to being the same thing, and I’m not trying to draw an analogy, but I just remember when I worked at Mattel, they were “rich enough” to donate $25,000,000.00 to the UCLA Children’s Hospital in exchange for renaming it the Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA, while at the same time bleeding money from bad investments so badly that they had to lay off between 3,000 and 6,000 employees. It’s definitely not a bad thing that sick children got a shiny new hospital building sponsored by Barbie, but I wonder how many children lost their medical coverage when their parents lost their jobs to fund it?
Where did you hear that? Some schools do, especially in the larger conferences. But smaller schools have been having to cut less popular sports because they can’t afford them.
Um, because, if somebody offered YOU $4 million , you paint Taco Bell on your ass. Making a profit is one thing; making a profit PLUS another $4 million is another.
The day I log on and see a logo at the top of the page declaring: “Fighting Ignorance – With The Great Taste Of Dr Pepper[sup]TM[/sup] – Since 1973” is the day I go to get myself barcoded.
Buffalo, New York is home of the first modern neotraditional baseball stadium in the United States. It was the model that was emulated by legendary baseball stadiums such as Coors Field and Camden Yard. Buffalo’s baseball stadium was built in anticipation of a major league team that never came, but it serves the Triple-A Bisons just fine.
Oh yeah … its called Dunn Tire Field, after a local chain of tire stores.
I hear ya dwc1970. I was not thrilled when I heard about it either. I think it would have been better if Wendy’s had sponsored them. Wouldn’t Wendy’s Arena sound so much better?
You think you have it bad? Here in Rhode Island we have the “Dunkin Donuts Center.” All well and good until you realize that donuts don’t have a center.