I’m a bit put off by the corporate names given to our ball parks, stadiums, arenas,etc. I miss the days of Candlestick Park and others. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not an anti-capitalist and I know many, many, parks have been named after the money guys in the past, it just seems we’re headed the wrong direction with this trend. Just wish the names of new stadiums had more reverence for history and the joy of the sports they house.
Seems like alot of these corporations could get plenty of ad time from their contributions to these places without naming them after themselves.
This past year there was a proposal from some company to buy the naming rights to the Ohio State-Michigan football game. If I remember correctly the deal would pay approximately 500,000 dollars per year to each University. As one could expect there was a howl of outrage about this and it was not enacted. My perspective from an OSU student was that the university could sure as heck use the money. State funding is being cut like a foreskin at a bris and tuition has risen by approximately 10-15% since I started school two years ago.
500,000 dollars per year would provide enough money for approximately 30-35 students. If they gave that money out as partial scholarships it might mean the difference for 100 people between going to OSU or going to a local community college. Yet the idea was shot down becuase of a name that no one would care about and no one would refer to outside of perhaps sportscasters. If you ask me 100 people getting a great education is worth a lot more than the trouble it takes to ignore some stupid name.
In fact I am going to go ahead and share another anecdote. The arena that the basketball team, hockey team and I am sure a couple other sports teams play at is officially called the Value City Arena at the Schottstein Center. Now everyone and their brother refers to it at the Schottstein Center. When I first heard the name “Value City Arena” I had to be told that it was in fact the Schottstein Center.
The stadium where the football team plays is called the Horseshoe becuase it used to be horseshoe shaped but no longer is. If some company wants to come and pay the University to rename the stadium “The Horseshoe at Stupid Company park” or something like they did with Comisky park in Chicago I would be all for it. Those naming rights are probably worth millions and that translates into a couple hundred people attending OSU that otherwise couldn’t. Everyone and their brother would ignore the name change and keep calling it the Horseshoe so whats the harm?
Flavian Amphitheater sounds a whole lot better than the Colesseum. I can’t say corporate names on stadiums really bothers me all that much. Wrigley field, anyone? I suppose this is more of a MPSIMS rather than a debate.
I guess it would be worse if Wrigley named his ballpark Doublemint Field. As I understand it, Wrigley was sort of an altruistic rich guy–along the lines of Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie Hall would probably be a less loved place if it was called-- U.S. Steel Concert Hall.
I would be much less offended by “Gates Field” than say “Microsoft Arena.”
The harm is that you’re relying on corporations to ensure the education of the people in your state.
In the past your university was probably more strongly supported by tax dollars and jobs provided by said corporation. Since they can’t provide that anymore–less tax contribution (thanks to george w. bush tax cuts), and the loss of jobs overseas, you are left to willingly accept the charity of corporations to dole out as they see fit.
It’s not charity if they’re paying for the naming rights. They’re selling ad space, essentially. And George W. Bush’s tax cuts have little effect on the funding of state universities.
It works though, at least here in Australia. It’s very common here, and whenever a ground is renamed, people will start using the new name without a second thought.
If BigCorp pays big bux to the government for naming rights, what obligation does that create for you? If Monster.com wants me to call the Niners’ stadium that, they can pay me to. If not, I feel no compunction at all about continuing to call the place Candlestick Park. Fuck 'em. It’s got nothing to do with me.
It isn’t? It’s the same building that was called Candlestick Park for decades, before the luxury box / naming rights / personal seat licenses era, right?
My apologies. I was thinking the Giants. Yes, you’re right, the Niners still play in Candlestick. I just catch myself sometimes saying that the Giants play in Candlestick.
Here’s a question along the same vein: why hasn’t any company ever thought of paying to have a popular name reinstated?
Being known as “the company that changed Candlestick Park back to Candlestick Park” would certainly be worth more than being known as “whatever company owns the naming rights to Candlestick Park this year”.
Seriously, are there really more than 100 people who remember what Candlestick Park was named before Monster bought them out? Compare that with the instant publicity and eternal gratitude of fans if a company were to spend $1 million a year to simply change it back to “Candlestick”.
Boston is one example. As soon as we got used to saying “FleetCenter” instead of “The Gahden” for the new arena, Fleet got bought out and the naming rights got resold. The name “TD Banknorth Garden” hasn’t yet fully caught on, being a couple of years too late to do so easily, but the gesture is appreciated nonetheless.
On the other hand, there’s Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, named for the beloved creator of the Dolphins and the stadium. When the name buyer got too much flak for naming it ProPlayer Park, they made what they even said was a gesture to the popular sentiment for the old name - it became ProPlayer Stadium instead.
Well, that’s different, right? It’s a new arena. That particular building has never been called anything else, and calling it “Boston Garden” might not only seem weird, but may offend people for whom the Garden held nostalgia.
I’m talking about old arenas that were renamed, usually to the chagrin of the fans.