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 Post subject: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2004 5:19 pm 
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Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2003 1:01 am
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Location: The Empire State
I realize this is probably a naive question, and it's definitely a moot question. But would there ever be a situation in which the media would ignore a corporation's sponsorship of a ballpark name and continue to refer to it by its original, nonsponsored name? I would love to see that happen, as it would thwart the grubby mind-set of both the corporations paying for the naming rights and the team owners who accept the filthy lucre.<p>The ballpark-sponsorship situation has got way out of hand. Pro Player Park, for instance, was named after a company that went bankrupt in 1999. The Astros have changed the name of Minute Maid Park three or four times. The Giants have already changed Pac Bell Park's name, and it has been open only three years. <p>Now we have the Rangers changing the Ballpark in Arlington's name to that of a mortgage company that's no doubt doomed for bankruptcy five years down the line.<p>I realize part of the problem, especially with the newer stadiums like Minute Maid and Pac Bell, is that they were never called by anything but corporate names. So how should the media refer to those buildings? Why not go with the name of the team followed by "Stadium" or "Park"? Sounds pretty simple.<p>It's a pipedream, I know. But I think the intrusion of corporate advertising into stadium names is ridiculous. Companies would change the names of cities and states if they could.


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2004 5:23 pm 
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The Denver Post did it under Glenn Guzzo a few years ago. Glenn's gone. "Invesco Field" has arrived. <p>Glenn refused to call it "Invesco Field" when it was built. He issued a style edict to call it "the new Mile High Stadium."<p>[ May 07, 2004: Message edited by: SeaRaven ]</p>


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2004 5:37 pm 
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<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by SeaRaven:
The Denver Post did it under Glenn Guzzo a few years ago. Glenn's gone. "Invesco Field" has arrived. <p>Glenn refused to call it "Invesco Field" when it was built. He issued a style edict to call it "the new Mile High Stadium."<hr></blockquote><p>Wow, that's cool, Sea. Thanks. Good for Glenn! At least he tried.<p>[ May 07, 2004: Message edited by: wordygurdy ]</p>


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2004 5:58 pm 
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I say just ID them by the team name, e.g. White Sox park. All the naming rights do is essentially allowthe corporations to buy advertising in editorial space. Screw them.


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2004 6:15 pm 
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Four words to ponder:
"St. Pete Times Forum"<p>~~~<p>[ May 07, 2004: Message edited by: SeaRaven ]</p>


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2004 6:23 pm 
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Location: Everett, Wash.
Guess that goes for Wrigley Field, too.


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2004 6:29 pm 
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<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by JonScribe:
Guess that goes for Wrigley Field, too.<hr></blockquote><p>See, somehow Wrigley doesn't bother me, though I guess you could argue that makes me a hypocrite. Wrigley was the name of the tycoon who founded the gum company. I don't have a problem with team owners naming their parks after people--Jack Murphy Stadium, Jacobs Field, Briggs Stadium. That seems a lot less obnoxious to me than naming fields after companies.


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2004 6:37 pm 
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Location: Everett, Wash.
So, Sam Walton Field would be fine by you?


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2004 9:17 pm 
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<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by JJ:
I say just ID them by the team name, e.g. White Sox park. All the naming rights do is essentially allowthe corporations to buy advertising in editorial space. Screw them.<hr></blockquote><p>If only. There have been several stories in both papers here egging on the search for a nickname for the new Phillies stadium, Citizens Bank Park; see, the old Veterans Stadium was known as "the Vet," and the new Eagles stadium, Lincoln Financial Field (ugh) lent its name easily to the parallel "the Linc," but no one can seem to agree on a similar parallel for the Phillies field: "the Cit," "the Zen," "the Bank," etc. The furthest anyone has strayed from the corporate name is "the Vault." (Get it? Cuz it's named for a bank! Yuk yuk.) "The Park" has been suggested, which could handily be turned to a lower-case generic, but somehow I doubt it'll stick. *sigh*


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2004 10:43 pm 
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If you really want to go to work on this, start sanitizing the NASCAR coverage on the sports wire.


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Sat May 08, 2004 4:34 am 
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<blockquote><font size="1" face="TImes, TimesNR, serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by wordygurdy:
<p>See, somehow Wrigley doesn't bother me, though I guess you could argue that makes me a hypocrite. Wrigley was the name of the tycoon who founded the gum company. I don't have a problem with team owners naming their parks after people--Jack Murphy Stadium, Jacobs Field, Briggs Stadium. That seems a lot less obnoxious to me than naming fields after companies.<hr></blockquote><p>Or Busch Memorial Stadium. Sigh.


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Sat May 08, 2004 11:37 pm 
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Wrigley and Busch are in a separate category from the other stadiums mentioned -- while many stadiums today are leasing the naming rights to unrelated companies as an advertising gimmick, Wrigley Field and its home team (the Cubs) were bought by Wm. Wrigley (who thus was able to do what he damn well pleased with it. If he'd bought a steel company instead and renamed it Wrigley Steel, who'd've argued?). Likewise, August Busch, whose company already owned the Cards, got the stadium built as a joint venture with the city of St. Louis. (Though, granted, according to one Web site I checked, he put up $5M compared with the city's $20M.) Nevertheless, those stadiums aren't examples of the Rent-a-Name idiocy.


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Sun May 09, 2004 11:42 am 
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Everything you always wanted to know...<p>Ballparks.com.


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 Post subject: Re: Ballpark names
PostPosted: Mon May 10, 2004 10:49 pm 
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Location: Twin Cities
In Omaha, my employer has a different style for the new arena and convention center in town. Qwest Communications bought the naming rights for $14 million over 15 years or something like that, so on the sign hanging outside it's Qwest Center Omaha. <p>But the paper calls it the Omaha Arena or the Omaha Convention Center, over the rationale that Qwest put up very little of the $280 million or so required to build it. That was put up by the people, and in the ballot language that's what the structure was called.<p>I'll see if I can find a link to the editor's column that explained it all...


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