Naming Rights

by user 69.120.195.77

The New York Mets just released the plans to their new stadium. The pictures released have the name "Mets Ballpark" centered on the main brick facade.

The naming rights will certainly be sold to some large corporation for an obscene amount of money (any speculation as to which companies?). I believe the company buying the rights would get the most value for its investment by allowing the team to choose its preferred stadium name as the official title. This would allow the team to maintain all semblances of respect to its tradition (Wilpon Field? Shea Jr.? The House that Wright Built?). It would also allow the corporation to maintain all the positives of its investment without any of the negatives (alienating the die-hard fans who abhor the corporate naming of the park).

A modern, nimble corporation ought to be smart enough enough to know that with a long-term investment on the order of naming rights, subtlety is of the highest importance. The corporation's signs will still be plastered over the stadium, the tickets will still have their corporate logo on the back, but they will have reached out to everyone.

Date
Fri 04/07/06, 10:49 pm EST