Before you sports fans have a heart attack, it’s not all of Madison Square Garden that’s being renamed—just the theater inside where things like “Sesame Street Live” and the above TV On The Radio concert are performed. Washington Mutual has bought the naming rights to the 5,600 seat theater and will be renaming it “The WaMu Theater,” which brings up a larger question.
Why does this sort of thing irritate us so much? Why do we still refuse to refer to the place where the White Sox play as “U.S. Cellular Field?” Is there something wrong with us? After all, Wrigley Field is named after a guy who sold gum.
What do you think? Are naming rights a good investment? Do you think they influence your purchasing?—MEGHANN MARCO
A: The Theater at the Garden. Q: What Is a WaMu, and Where Is It Found? [NYT]
(Photo: Whistling In The Dark)
More From Consumerist
-
New Circle In Hell Opens Up For Scalpers Selling $60K Tickets To Sandy Benefit Concert
-
Some Theaters Beef Up Security Following Fatal Colorado Shooting
-
Noodles And Company Takes My Complaint Seriously, Then Sort Of Stalks Me
-
Be Sure To Specify ‘Weed Killer,’ Not ‘Every Plant In The Yard Killer’
-
Wendy's Japan Putting On Its Fancy Pants With Pricey Caviar & Lobster Offerings
@dreamrot: Comerica whatnow? The Tigers play in Tigers Stadium.
/stubborn
Oh, the Staples Center… though I don’t know if it had another name before that. Dodger and Angel stadiums are named just that, I think, though I know the Dodgers have a sponser for everything from the radar gun measuring the speed of the pitch to the home runs.
I think the Arrowhead Pond has a corporate name, but I don’t know what it is…
Coors Field in Denver has never been anything else. And maybe that’s why nobody cares. Pepsi Center used to be something else but I don’t remember (this is where the Colo. Avalanche play and Denver Nuggets lose).
Maybe I’m the only one here who laughs at it, because it’s silly, but I also understand that this is how these structures get built with LESS taxpayer money when corporations come in and throw money at it. Fact o’ life, kids.
Doesn’t mean you have to like it, but saying you’ll never shop at x or bank at y because it’s the name of your local ballpark, is not only hollow but damn ungrateful.
Just kiddin, sorta.
Bottom Line: Oversubsidizing pro sports is much worse than overcommercializing them.
I still reserve a cold, black corner in my heart for all you marketing numbnuts, and your crappy bank too.
In Cleveland, we have Quicken Loans Arena (formerly Gund Arena, which not only was named after the former owner of the Cavs, but sounded like a STD). However, it has an official nickname of “The Q.” That I don’t mind since it’s easier to say and isn’t word-of-mouth advertising.
@homersays: You’re right that people will keep calling it what they want. I’ve actually worked in the Theatre at MSG as part of the stagehand crew for Sesame Street Live (thanks for the mention, Meghann!
) three years in a row now. When I mention that to people, I get responses variously like “the what at MSG?”, or “oh, you mean the Felt Forum”, or “oh, you mean the Paramount”, some of its other previous names.
Over here in the North-west (Seattle), there’s also “Safeco Field,” and it’s been called such since it was built. I suppose people also refer to it as the Mariners’ stadium, too, but it’s Safeco Field.
Funny how I still think of it as new, when it opened eight years ago.