When I was very little, my aunt and uncle lived in a rent house in Dallas. I remember the day my daddy told me they were going to have to move. Seems the owner of the house wanted to sell it, and Aunt and Uncle would have to find somewhere else to live.
I was devastated. I thought moving meant that they were "going away" and I would never see them again. After my daddy reassured me that they were staying in Dallas, just moving to a new house and we would indeed see them again, I felt a lot better. (The fact that we had to drive 6 hours to see them anyway was more than my childish mind could comprehend.)
About the same time, the Dallas Cowboys moved out of the Cotton Bowl and into Texas Stadium. Again, I was devastated. I thought it meant that they were going away, and I would never get to see them play again. (The fact that the TV cameras would also move to Texas Stadium was more than my childish mind could comprehend.)
The 2008 season will be the last one in Texas Stadium. Next year, they will be playing in the new AmeriQuest stadium. I'm going to miss the old stadium. It is a part of my life, though I've never been there.
The Orange Bowl is going to be torn down. The stadium had been the home of both the Miami Hurricanes and the Miami Dolphins for many a year. Yesterday, they had their final celebration, which included a flag football game between former Hurricanes and former Dolphins. It was the last football game that will ever be played there.
The Dolphins moved into their new stadium in 1987. It is called Pro Player Stadium, after the corporate sponsor, Pro Player Apparel.
The Denver Broncos no longer play at Mile High Stadium. In 2001, they moved into INVESCO Field.
The San Diego Chargers renamed their stadium from Jack Murphy Stadium to QUALCOMM Stadium, after the communications company of the same name agreed to fund an expansion of the stadium.
The Pittsburgh Steelers no longer play at Three Rivers Stadium. In 2001, they moved into Heinz Field--yes, named after the ketchup company.
The San Francisco 49ers renamed Candlestick Park to Monster Park in 2004 after gaining sponsorship of a cable company of the same name.
In 2003, the Philadelphia Eagles moved from Veterans Stadium into Lincoln Financial Field, named after the Lincoln Financial Group.
The Washington Redskins used to play at RFK Stadium. Now they play at FedEx Field.
I could go on, but I won't. Now, I can understand that if you're a business, and you're sponsoring an athletic arena that you would want your name associated with the arena. I mean, you put all that money into it, you ought to get some advertising out of it. That's just business.
But I think that in doing that a lot of the romance of the game has been lost.
And we are the worse for it.
4 comments:
The stadium name thing is a hot button with me... especially when it comes to the older venues. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool capitalist, true, but you can take some things WAY beyond what's reasonable.
And they have.
I so agree with you! I feel the same way about the college bowl games. It will always be the Citrus Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, or the Rose Bowl to me. I don't even pay attention to the corporate names in front of them.
Denver fans became so incensed and were dragging Invesco's name through so much mud that the company was forced to accept a compromise and the stadium's official name soon became Invesco Field at Mile High. Most Denver fans still just call it Mile High (or *new* Mile High, when they have to distinguish).
Not that this makes it better or anything, but it shows that fan sentiment can have *some* influence. But you're right, it does take out some of the romance.
Sus, nice to see you again! I totally agree with you. There is a petition going around to name the new Cowboys stadium after Tom Landry. I hope it goes through. We shall see.
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