Written by At this point, large companies becoming the title sponsors of large sporting arenas and stadiums have become commonplace in today’s sporting world. In the highly commercialized and capitalistic economy of the United States, the American consumer has become accustomed to seeing companies names and logos in a stadium built for sports. It’s a marketing gig, and we all know it. Does it pay off? Well, the evidence is mixed.
But what happens when a world famous stadium gets a new sponsor? How do fans react to a name change? I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and have seen championship winning Lakers and Kings teams play in the Staples Center(sorry Clippers. Maybe the Forum will bring your franchise better luck). My first memory connecting a stadium name to its company sponsor came when I was in middle school and I realized that the “Staples Center” was named after the office and school supply company, Staples. Even though I associated the company Staples with back to school and schoolwork, that bad taste never entered my mind when I went to a game in the Staples Center. When I first learned that the Staples Center is no more, I was shocked and confused. The people I grew up with were just as surprised with the future of the “House that Kobe built,” and shared that confusion on social media.
Let’s keep this example in Los Angeles, the best sports city in the world. Down the road from the Staples Center is the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.This stadium will be the first to host 3 Olympic Games, and is currently and primarily used as the home football field for the USC Trojans. Technically, when a grass sport is played on its surface, it needs to be called the “United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.” Yeah, no that doesn’t happen. In fact, when USC first announced that United Airlines was going to be the title sponsor of the Coliseum, there was an uproar and USC and United Airlines had to re-negotiate. I attended this year’s USC/UCLA football game and was unsettled at seeing the United Airlines logo on the grass. I highly doubt that the new USC football coach, Lincoln Riley, will approach potential football recruits with “Imagine playing in front of 77,500 fans on United Airlines Field.” Heck no, those conversations will probably go like “Imagine the sun setting on a warm Southern California afternoon, the fourth quarter starts and Tommy Trojan lights the Olympic Cauldron while 77,500 fans roar out into the twilight for a Trojan victory. That is what you will experience at the Coliseum, where you will experience the same glory that generations of Olympians have found.”
This emotional connection that fans have goes further than the name of the stadium, and extends to the stadium itself. Look no further than Fenway Park. When Frank McCourt tried to buy the Boston Red Sox, he had plans to move the team out of the park to a modern stadium with a corporate sponsor. When the fans and City of Boston heard of this plan, his bid was categorically rejected…So Frank McCourt decided to buy the Dodgers and ruin that franchise instead, but I digress… It is objectively accepted that Fenway Park is old, uncomfortable, and small. A new stadium really is not a bad idea. But that doesnt matter, the fans will always call Fenway home. When I tell my Red Sox friends that I don’t like Fenway Park and it’s time to move on, I get looked at as if I just said go Yankees.
So what am I getting at with this talk? The fact is, fans will associate a stadium and its primary name or sponsor with the experiences they had with that name, regardless of the company that may sponsor it. The name of the stadium may change on the outside, but the memories will always be tied to the experiences on the inside. Now that is something corporate America will never be able to buy. Sorry Crypto.com, the arena at 1111 S.Figueroa St in Los Angeles will always be the “Staples Center” to me and generations of fans.