Tank McNamara by Bill Hinds for January 12, 2022

A different scent for each home game?

In Atlanta, a major reason Mercedes-Benz Stadium was built to replace the Georgia Dome was that the Georgia Dome was owned – and managed – by the state of Georgia. Among other things, the state commission which managed the stadium declined to sell the naming rights. (MBS is ostensively also owned by the state government of Georgia, but for practical purposes the Arthur M. Blank Group manages and profits from the new stadium.)

Not sure about the sound of Miller Draft Dodger Stadium

I never used corporate names when referring to sports venues while sports announcing on radio. As long as neither I nor my stations were getting any money from naming rights deals, I wasn’t required to give a bank or insurance company free advertising. It was always “in (name city)” or “at home.”

Always considered selling “naming rights” on my updates to anyone for $10-20 and call a stadium or arena anything they wanted (within reason) with all proceeds going to youth sports organizations, but never pulled that trigger.

Some teams get lucky in their sponsors. Chicago’s United Center has a great name.

And then others change their names every few years, let’s hear it for the Bitcoin Centre!

I understand the ESPN must say the full names of the bowl games since they are the broadcaster, but why do other news sources?

YES. YES. YES. YES. F-N-A YES. Dignity should not be up for sale!

Sports resolutions should include not betraying your team just for a slightly bigger paycheck.

The NFL should resolve to “Canadianize” their kicking game. Too few kickoffs and punts are being run back.

Those thinking of giving their stadiums corporate names should remember Houston’s ENRON STADIUM.

Demand to look at their books first.

It’s always all about the money. It isn’t “sport” any longer. It’s just profits, overpaid players, filthy rich owners, and citizens being taxed (at least here we are) to pay for stadiums. Any wonder why I detest professional sports?

Anyone remember how well Enron Field in Houston worked out? HAHAHA

In just over 20 years, the ballpark in San Francisco has had four different names: Pac Bell Park (2000-2003), SBC Park (2004-2005), AT&T Park (2006-2018), and Oracle Park (2019-present). Granted the first two changes were the result of corporate mergers, but still…

The joke for a while was that “SBC” stood for “Some Big Corporation,” and of course that could be applied to just about every arena these days…

Soldier Field by ExLax (because everything in here is s**t

The New York subway system refuses to go along with corporate naming. The stop for CitiField is Willets Point / Mets. And the one at Yankee Stadium is simply 161st Street / Yankees. I doubt Yankee Stadium will ever get a corporate name, but the MTA isn’t taking any chances.

Can we keep the real name, and corporates can sponsor it? “Joe Robbie Stadium, sponsored by Four Loko/Monster Energy”

When asked what he would call his new ballpark in 1912, John Harrington said, “It’s in the Fens, so we will call it Fenway Park.” Seems to have worked so far.

I still call the Houston Astros’ home field “Enron Field”.