Corporations play games with names
Updated: 06/24/08 7:06 AM
A few days ago, I was listening to an update on sports radio and heard a reference to Citizens Bank Park. I searched my brain for a few seconds and came to a stunning realization. I had no idea who played there.
The White Sox? No, that’s U. S. Cellular Field. Reds? They play in Great American Ball Park. Pirates? PNC Park. Or is it PETCO? No, that’s the Padres. How about the Diamondbacks? Didn’t they change it from Bank One Ballpark? Yeah, but it’s Chase Field now.
Finally, I looked it up. The Phillies play at Citizens Bank Park. The place is in its fifth season, which causes me some embarrassment. I love baseball. I follow it religiously in the papers and watch as many games as I can on TV. But somehow, I can’t keep all the ballparks straight in my mind. After awhile, it’s all one big company to me.
Look, I’m not naive. I know large corporations pay big bucks for the naming rights at ballparks and arenas. That doesn’t mean I have to like it. I still recoil when I drive down Washington Street and see the unsightly “HSBC” on the facade of our hockey arena.
Maybe it’s the romantic in me, but I pine for the good old days of Tiger Stadium, Comiskey Park, Forbes Field and Three Rivers Stadium. Don’t you miss telling people you were heading to The Aud for a game?
For nearly half a century, New Yorkers lived and died with the team at Shea Stadium. Next season, the Mets move into a new ballpark, Citi Field. Citigroup, the financial giant, will pay $20 million a year for 20 years to have its name plastered on the Mets’ new park. On Monday, Citigroup announced that it was laying off 6,500 employees in its investment banking sector. Maybe if the Mets make a playoff run, those folks will be rehired.
I won’t miss Shea Stadium. The place is a dump. The new stadium will be a treasure for baseball fans. Most of the new parks are a big improvement over the old places. It’s regrettable to see them become billboards for huge, impersonal companies that reach into the pockets of average Americans.
There was a time when stadium names honored public virtue and sacrifice. Veterans Stadium. Soldier Field. Memorial Auditorium. Now they celebrate banks and telecommunications giants. Overextended on credit cards? At your wit’s end because your kid sends 5,000 text messages a month? Somewhere in this great nation, a stadium or arena marquee honors your contribution.
What’s next? The oil companies? As a matter of fact, the Indianapolis Colts are moving into Lucas Oil Stadium, named for a company that sells motor oil and additives. The Bills will be play in the first NFL game there in late August.
Is nothing sacred anymore? Even the Cubs have put the naming rights up for sale. Granted, Wrigley Field was named for a chewing gum company. But it’s been Wrigley for almost 100 years. Chicago fans are up in arms to think their quaint old park could be soon be named for a phone company or bank.
Well, at least Yankees and Red Sox fans have one thing in common. Their ballpark names are intact. Next year, the Yankees move into the new Yankee Stadium. There will be no selling of naming rights. Lonn Trost, the Yankees’ CEO, said renaming the stadium would be like renaming the White House or the Grand Canyon (although Great American Canyon does have a ring to it.)
Imagine the uproar if they tried to rename Fenway Park. Of course, anything is possible. For 17 years, the San Diego Chargers played in Jack Murphy Stadium, named for a sports columnist. “The Murph’s” run ended in 1997, when Qualcomm, the wireless communications firm, bought the naming rights.
I have no illusions about a stadium being named for me some day. In fact, you can take it to the bank.
