Do you like Corporate Stadiums/Arenas or Do You like the old days?

[Mets82]

I know there's a thread on here about corporate stadiums and arenas that SandraC posted(You do a hell of a job, Sandra, btw). Now she listed the stadiums w/o corporate names, like Yankee Stadium, Fenway etc.
What I would like to know is-what do you like better. The old days of Browns Stadium, Veterans Stadium and RFK Stadium or the new type of stadiums with corporate sponsors, luxury boxes, PSLs. What do you think?

 

[Mr Tony]

Depends on the situation

If a stadium has been called an "old" name for years then changes, most folks will call it the old name....example would be Comiskey.

But if a stadium starts new or a year after built has a name then most folks probably use the new name

me personally...it doesnt bother me. But some of the new names are just retarded IMO. Sure corporate money is nice, but some of the names are just goofy...examples are (or I guess were) Monster Park and McAfee Colosseum

 

[cjwct]

I am still surprised that unlike Nascar, PGA, futbol, etc. corporate sponsors have yet to get on other uniforms . . . I love to see a stadium named to honor the team's past greats. For example even though I am a Mets fan, nice to see CitiField (new Mets home in 2009) will have the Jackie Robisnon Rotunda; it is a nice touch!

 

[Hall]

I'd call the Red's (and Bengal's) stadium "Riverfront" but seeing as they tore it down and built two new ones, I can't be stubborn and old-fashioned since Riverfront simply doesn't exist anymore. Hell, I don't even know the name of the Bengal's stadium. The Red's is "Great American Ballpark", I think. I still refer to almost all of the others by their old name. I despise the commercialization...

Even the Class A team for the Reds here in Dayton plays in a corporate-named stadium, Fifth Third Field. It's *always* been that way though from day one. Also, the University of Dayton's baseball field is named "Time Warner...." something or other. And the worst is, the local hospitals are buying off the high schools to get their names on their sports facilities.

 

[TNGTony]

I called the old Cincinnati Riverfront Stadium, River Front Stadium until the day it was demolished! I never once called it Cinergy Field.

However I will call the new Great American Ball Park, Great American until the day its demolished no matter how many other corporate sponsors go through the name. (Great American Insurance is the sponsor).

I have been calling the arena on the riverfront, Riverfront Coliseum even though it has been called US Bank Arena for quite some time. Every time some one says US Bank Arena, I have to ask where it is. If they say Riverfront Coliseum, I know exactly where it is!

Same goes for Shoemaker Center / 5th/3rd Bank Arena

Also I will know Cintas Center as Cintas Center even if XU changes sponsorships!

Hall, the Bengals play at Paul Brown Stadium. The Field may eventually get a name, but the Stadium will be known as Paul Broun for ever!

See ya
Tony

 

[SamCdbs]

Most people simply call whatever place the team is playing "the stadium", if anything. Generally, you will hear "I have tickets to the game on Tuesday." People already know where teams are playing. Even in cities with multiple stadiums, people know which team plays where.

Cincinnati has to be one of the more futile sponsorships. In a city with at least three huge consumer oriented companies (Kroger, Proctor & Gamble, and Chiquita Brands) headquarters, the deal is made with a little known insurance company that actually markets its products under a multitude of other brand names. I would say that most people outside the Reds area do not even know that Great American is a brand name at all, but rather just think its just a hype name.

 

[Hall]

I live in Dayton, just 45 minutes up I-75 from Cincy (and idolized the "Big Red Machine" when I was very young) and didn't know until an hour ago that "Great American" was an insurance company, let alone a company at all. I thought "Great American" alluded to the fact that the Reds were one of the first baseball teams, etc, etc. For the record, I gave up on Major League Baseball when they went on strike in the early 90s.

Regarding Kroger and P&G, maybe they just don't play that game of "sponsorship" (??). They by no means need to make their name known.

 

[darrencp22]

We're in a world now where you'll only see non-naming rights for stadiums whose names are more valuable themselves.

For example: Both yankee stadium and madison square garden are worth infinitely more because of the prestige their names bring. These venues would lose value if naming rights were sold. Unfortuantely, this is very very rare.

 

[TNGTony]

I live in Dayton, just 45 minutes up I-75 from Cincy (and idolized the "Big Red Machine" when I was very young) and didn't know until an hour ago that "Great American" was an insurance company, let alone a company at all. I thought "Great American" alluded to the fact that the Reds were one of the first baseball teams, etc, etc.

Yup! That is why I added that statement in brackets. Most people even here in town have no clue.

See ya
Tony

 

[rcman2]

I have mixed feelings on this. Busch Stadium I & II was supposedly named after the family, although they did that only after the commissioner said no to renaming Sportsman's Park to Bud Park. I never had a problem w/Busch Stadium being the name. Now we know that, for the time being at least, Busch III is definitely named after the beer.

However, the Keil Center sounds much better than Savvis or Scottrade center.

 

[Ramy]

Yup! That is why I added that statement in brackets. Most people even here in town have no clue.

See ya
Tony

I didn't know either until about 6 months into the first season in the new park. I thought the first time I heard it, that it was the greatest name for a ballpark ever thought up.

 

[Ira Lacher]

I don't care what a stadium is called, as long as I can watch a game in a seat with a good sightline without constantly being assaulted with advertising and marketing messages and canned music; scoreboards calling for cheers and showing ridiculous "races" between cartoon characters; getting the impression that I'm at Disney World instead of a sporting event; needing to take a bus or train to get to the gate from the parking lot, and finding myself without rent money when it's over.

I think the name for such a place is Extinct.

 

[HD MM]

I know there's a thread on here about corporate stadiums and arenas that SandraC posted(You do a hell of a job, Sandra, btw). Now she listed the stadiums w/o corporate names, like Yankee Stadium, Fenway etc.
What I would like to know is-what do you like better. The old days of Browns Stadium, Veterans Stadium and RFK Stadium or the new type of stadiums with corporate sponsors, luxury boxes, PSLs. What do you think?

This question can be answered in a few different ways:

The commodity, nostalgia and history that is associated with the stadiums of yester-year will be greater than the stadiums of today until the current stadiums eclipse the memories made in the previous structures. To some nostalgia is more important than functionality.

For me personally, I think the rationality is somewhere in between enjoying all of the modern day amenities of today's ballparks and the history permeating from old stadiums. There is great convenience in not having to pee in troughs, not having to sit in front of huge steel support beams and not having to be a mile away from the on-field action. Newer ballparks have improved seating comfort, service, technologies, scoreboards, etc. But there was just something "campy" about being packed into stadiums that contained such rich history.

With everything considered, I'd take the new stadium over the old stadiums.

 

[TNGTony]

It's funny... whenever I go to Wrigley field I still look at the lights and think that those monstrosities are out of place! I miss day games!

See ya
Tony

 

[brainfry]

You want to know what I like? I liked it when nobody cared what the name of the stadium was, nobody cared what it looked like, nobody care what amenities it had, and you could walk up and buy a ticket that you could afford because all the seats hadn't already been sold because people of flipping them on the internet.

That's what I like.

 

[SamCdbs]

Consider:

Ameriquest Field (Dallas-Ft. Worth) - BANKRUPT
Pac-Bell Park/SBC Park (San Francisco) - Bought by AT&T
Busch Stadium (St. Louis) - Bought by ImBev
Bank One Ballpark - unequal merger with Chase
Pro Player Park (Miami) - BANKRUPT
Enron Field (Houston - BANKRUPT
Turner Field (Atlanta) - TW-AOL stock crashed, Turner tossed out of Time Warner board for nutty ideas.
Wrigley Field (Chicago)- Company sold to Mars, Inc
Gillette Stadium (Boston) - Company sold to P&G, management moved to Cincinnati
Alltel Stadium (Jacksonville) - Company bought out of bankruptcy by Verizon
Adelphia Coliseum (Nashville) - BANKRUPT
Conseco Fieldhouse (Indy) - near bankrupt
MCI Center (Washington)- Bought out of de facto bankruptcy by Verizon
America West Arena (Phoenix)- Bought US Airways, thought so much of its own name it took theirs
Marine Midland Arena (Buffalo) - Bought by HSBC
Canadian (Airlines) Saddledome (Calgary) - Bought out of near bankruptcy by Air Canada
Nextel Cup Series - Bought out of near bankruptcy by Sprint, which likewise is nearly bankrupt

and, of course

Amway Center - hopefully the government will finally jail these Ponzi Pyramiders someday

So, if naming rights work, howcome everybody is broke?

 

[anders5189]

Great point Sam. I've often thought the same thing. You didn't even mention the airlines that get naming rights and then go bankrupt, like the United Center. I don't know why companies still think it's a good idea to buy these naming rights. It's about the most wasteful thing they could do to their sharholders' money.