Lansdowne Road Stadium Name Change?
Dervla | September 7, 2007A common money maker for sporting clubs these days is to sell the naming rights of their home ground – the JJB, Reebok Stadium, Walkers Stadium. It seems the Lansdowne Road Stadium Development Company (IRFU and the FAI) are going down this route. The chairman, Philip Browne, announced at a media briefing yesterday:
At the briefing Browne also announced the appointment of the US specialist company Wasserman Media Group (WMG) who have been appointed to evaluate and ultimately market the naming rights for the new stadium. WMG were responsible for the deal between Arsenal FC and Emirates Airlines which combined stadium naming rights with a shirt deal.
Personally I think its disappointing but I suppose I should stop being sentimental and move with the times.
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Dervla, I’ve never been very comfortable with corporate sponsors buying the naming rights of stadiums. It’s a trend in the States that I think has taken away from the spirit of sport and athleticism. But, like you say, what can we do about it? It certainly helps to pay for new, state-of-the-art stadiums.
In the States, the mainstream view is that corporate naming is absurd. If a stadium had an “old” name, most people use that name in conversation — although corporate entities (like radio stations and newspapers) are forced to use the new name. Radio stations tend to use the corporate name with an audible wink-and-sigh.
If the stadium is new, and has no identity beyond the corporate name, then people usually convey disgust or bemusement every time they use the sponsor’s name. The common wisdom is that naming rights are free cash from stupid corporations in lieu of taxpayers’ money. Some exceptions are college and public school venues, which tend to be upsetting to alumni.
This post caught my eye because Americans tend to shake their heads at the logos all over European team jerseys. Given the history of the All-Ireland, the logos on counties’ jerseys are especially surprising.
Most Americans forget that corporate naming was almost as prevalent in the early 20th Century (in the US), and that beloved placenames like Times Square and Wrigley Field were purchased, too. Is there a similar history of corporate naming in Dublin and Ireland generally? It appears that there is in the UK and in Germany, but less so in France.
I’ve lived in Dublin for 3 months. As I learn about local placenames, especially stadiums, I wonder how many venerable places are named for commercial entities or self-promoting developers — as Fitzwilliam, Pembroke, and Dawson seem to be.
Great thoughts there, Will! It’s true – Invesco Field in Denver (where American football team, the Broncos, play) still goes by Mile High Stadium with locals. And even though they blew up the Kingdome in Seattle, I still call my home team’s new field “Seahawk Stadium” (vs. Qwest Field).
i hope they don’t sell the rights! i live on cape cod and the main arena in boston (the boston garden) sold their rights years ago. it has gone through several corporate name changes; it’s ridiculous.
people in the area want to retain the classic identity. if the identity was changing and a name change occured along with that, it might be different. but simply selling the name is hard to swallow. then corporations merge, change, and sell; the boston arena’s latest corporate incarnation finally had the brilliant idea to incorporate the “garden” from the original back into the name. so we can finally just continue calling it the garden and not have to stop and conjure up whatever corporate name is current. we don’t have to catch ourselves saying boston garden, ah- you know what i mean!
the other local arena is now also corporation named. most of us still call it by its prettier, old name: great woods. when i heard about landsdowne over the radio (over the internet) i was sad– i hope they don’t sell out. we were over a year ago and walking past the stadium to the dart and i felt a connection- recognizing the historical name/place. at the very least, i hope they can keep landsdowne in the title…
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