Has corporate sponsorship gone to far?

[chayes]

http://espn.go.com/sportsbusiness/news/2003/0624/1572282.html

The Bank One Chicago Bears!

Remember when the NBA vetoed the Memphis franchise being named the "Express" for FedEx?

The Home Depot LA Galaxy presented by Home Depot at the Home Depot Center!

[Jeremy Goodwin]

1. The New Soldier Field has no naming rights for the Bears, so they had to do something.

2. This isn't anything terribly new, the Padres have already done similar things: http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2000/0208/343126.html

[Detective40oz]

The owners have to do something when they pay players 8 figures a year. It hits the fans pocketbooks and that's not enough..so now all the corporate sponsorships in our face. I used to love the NBA..it seems he palyers care lessa bou the game now..and more about how much money I an get from moving teams in the offseason...or how good my stats look, how many shoe endrosements I have and if i have more tattoos and expensive jewelry than you. Basketball really has become unwatchable to me..and thankfully for MLS my time watching NBA is now entirely devoted to MLS and US Soccer.

[sachinag]

I agree. The article lacks the 'no naming rights' context that Jeremy points out. And what's so sacred about "presentation rights" anyway? Dangerous precedent? No - Coke machines in elementary schools is a dangerous precedent.

[kenntomasch]

Jeremy's right, this is not new. It's been done in the minors for a long time, and the Padres have been or are still presented by Sycuan, which I believe is a Native American nation.

The brouhaha then was because Sycuan had gaming interests.

But I guess when the Bears do it, people actually notice.

Whatever. It won't go into common parlance. No one in Chicago is going to refer to the Bears as "the Bears presented by Bank One". No one (except the Bears themselves and Bank One, that is).

[Anthony]

Originally posted by Jeremy Goodwin
1. The New Soldier Field has no naming rights for the Bears, so they had to do something.

2. This isn't anything terribly new, the Padres have already done similar things: http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2000/0208/343126.html

Ever wonder how the Green Bay Packers got their name?

[salmacis]

When the Bears rename themselves Total Network Solutions FC then you know it's time to worry.

[kenntomasch]

Originally posted by Anthony
Ever wonder how the Green Bay Packers got their name?

Or the Decatur Staleys?

Or the Akron Goodyears?

[skipshady]

Originally posted by kenntomasch
Or the Decatur Staleys?

Or the Akron Goodyears? Or Detroit Pistons? Arsenal? Urawa Red Diamonds?








Detroit Pistons were originally the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, named after the owner and auto parts mogul Fred Zollner. Arsenal began as a workers team for Woolwich Armaments and went through several armament factory-themed name changes, and settled on Woolwich Arsenal before the club moved out of the Woolwich area of London. Urawa Red Diamonds refers to the three red diamonds in the Mitsubishi (literally means "three diamonds") logo.

[kenntomasch]

In the early days of basketball, they made no bones about it. The teams were often named after sponsors, or the actual people who owned the team. The Indianapolis Kautskys were owned by a guy named Kautsky (I forget what he did).

Teams in other countries (Japanese baseball, basketball almost everywhere) are just named after corporations, no problem. The Nippon Ham Fighters (named for the Nippon Ham corporation) and Tokyo Yomiuri Giants (Yomiuri is a big media conglomerate, I believe) are well-entrenched.

Someone tried to start a Collegiate Basketball League a few years back, with teams carrying the names of sponsors. It didn't work, but not because of that. It didn't work because minor basketball leagues rarely do.

[Lanky134]

PSV Eindhoven?

[skipshady]

Originally posted by kenntomasch
Tokyo Yomiuri Giants (Yomiuri is a big media conglomerate, I believe) are well-entrenched.That's correct. Five of six professional baseball teams in Japan are at least partially named after parent companies.

J-League, in an attempt to be as different from baseball as possible, mandated that all clubs must be named after cities. But almost all J-League clubs were formerly semi-pro corporate teams. So fans still associate Yokohama Marinos with the old Nissan Motors club (mostly because Marinos jerseys say NISSAN in big bold letters) and Panasonic is always trying to get people to say "Panasonic Gamba Osaka" and the club mascot is a cartoon character named Pana-chan.

I know, you were just dying to know all this.

[Anthony]

And what about the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (not a corporate name, but named by a corporation as a movie tie-in).

[SankaCofie]

As long as the Bears aren't getting outscored by the Fire this year I guess they have nothing to worry about... and the way the Fire keep putting in 4 goals a game there is a real danger of that happening.

[Lanky134]

Originally posted by Anthony
And what about the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (not a corporate name, but named by a corporation as a movie tie-in).
And not even a good movie, at that...

[PZ]

Could be worse. Here's a club actually in the UEFA Cup (well, qualifying rounds)

Total Network Solutions (http://www.saints-alive.co.uk/index.php)

There are a few others in the LoW too. Whatever it takes to keep the teams going I guess.

[Goodsport]

Originally posted by chayes
The Bank One Chicago Bears!

&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Actually, the official name of the team is now "Bears Football Presented By Bank One." :eek:


-G

[Anthony]

I am in Chicago now and it is funny to see the comments in the paper. One guy wrote an article in the Tribune about the old days "when hockey boards wre white" and before there were all the corporate sponsors on t.v.

Gee, I guess the guy never say the old pictures of the Green Monstor in Boston covered in advertising. Or listened to old radio braodcatss of baseball where dead time was filled through talking up sponsors products.

[Lanky134]

Originally posted by Anthony
Gee, I guess the guy never say the old pictures of the Green Monstor in Boston covered in advertising.
The "Hit Sign, Win Suit" board at Ebbets Field comes to mind...

[chayes]

Originally posted by Lanky134
The "Hit Sign, Win Suit" board at Ebbets Field comes to mind...

I prefer the "Hit Cow, Win Steak" board at the Durham Athletic Park (Durham Bulls).