Falls Count Anywhere: Implications of stadium naming rights

BSN Rockies reporters Drew Creasman and Patrick Lyons battle for supremacy discussing various hot topics in-and-around the game of baseball.

Creasman vs Lyons… who you got?

Implications of stadium naming rights

Topic #1: What are the benefits to changing the name of a stadium every so often?

Lyons – When the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl XXXIII against the Atlanta Falcons in Miami, the entire sports world enjoyed their celebration inside Pro Player Stadium. Previously known as Joe Robbie Stadium, the multipurpose facility has since been called Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium (because that makes more sense) Land Shark Stadium, and Sun Life Stadium. Since 2016, it has been known as Hard Rock Stadium.

The question that keeps coming up most is simple: does any of that really matter?

Exclusive naming rights are a financial boon for teams and cities to capitalize on the product of their stadium. The money from such rights is not a part of any collective bargaining agreement and is not held against the respective team’s salary cap. It’s nothing but good news.

While there is undoubted beauty and symmetry of retaining the same name over decades and generations, the bottom line is that fans want to see the action contained within and care little for the name. Sure, there may be some slight embarassment in telling friends you have tickets for a game at the Smoothie King Center (New Orleans, LA) or Sleep Train Arena (Sacramento, CA) or PSINet Stadium (Baltimore, MD), but you could also just say, “We’ve got tickets to the game,” which is how most folks discuss such a thing.

The effects of new naming rights have potential to be franchise changing. With the additional money of a new deal, new investments – both on the field and off – can improve the quality of the product and bring a championship to the organization.

The San Francisco Giants recently secured a deal that puts an additional $10MM in their pocket for the next 20 years; the Colorado Rockies made a deal like that once, but it was a one-time arrangement and can never reap another penny from the stadium.

Asking Siri for directions is much easier when you don’t have to update your mental roladex, but is that worth the taking millions out of the pockets of your front office?

Creasman – I’m inclined to agree with most of what’s said here, but it should also be pointed out that oftentimes the place where the games are played are just as much a character in the story as the people who populate them.

In a recent series of articles and podcasts all centered around the “Coors Effect,” we weren’t exactly talking beverages. It can become a part of the identity for the fans.

Bad branding can be a boring, corporate, transparent attempt to put a name in front of as many people as possible. But when done right, it helps to create a community of people that feel like they all can associate with it. This has happened at 20th and Blake and also throughout Denver.

Empower Field may or may never begin to sound normal or “cool” but Mile High will live forever. The same thing goes for the Can.

If you name your stadium after Quicken Loans and don’t even bother to take off the “Loans” part, it’s probably not going to inspire much community. If you can build around something your audience already likes and make it a part of your overall image, it can go a long way toward helping everyone involved feel like they belong to something.

Topic #2: Is it preferable to keep the same name for a long period?

Lyons – The purity of Fenway Park, Dodgers Stadium and Camden Yards is knowing that these baseball cathedrals will surely never have any sponsorship deals to change their name… at least until they do. This purity is not because the name has been kept, but simply because it is a spectacular location.

Comerica Park in Detroit celebrated his 20th season this year and though it has not had another name, it is far from a special locale. Petco Park in San Diego and PNC Park in Pittsburgh, on the other hand, are two of the finest ballparks in the country that have sponsored names. When the contract for those naming rights end, they’ll have a new name and still be fantastic.

Coors Field is a perfect name for the Rockies home. Unquestioned. Even more perfect than that would be an NL West pennant hanging above the visitor’s bullpen in right-center field and the team’s first World Series. Does an $200MM get them closer to that goal? Undoubtedly.

Creasman – You make a compelling point and you don’t want to play on uneven terms so, as is, it actually does make a lot of sense for teams to semi-regularly change the naming rights to their stadiums.

I’m old school on this, though. I miss the days when ballparks were named after the people and history for which they stood. Ebbets Field, Polo Grounds, Wrigley Field, and plenty of the others that Patrick mentioned just hold something special.

We all get used to it, but nobody likes to be sold something every second of every day. The strike zone, the replay, the bottom of the fifth, the tooth brush races… it’s all a bit much.

If the Rockies were able to ride the money from a new naming deal to a World Series win, I’d be first in line giving them credit for making a prudent decision. But that wouldn’t stop me from constantly and mercilessly roasting them if they did so while calling White Claw Field home.

Topic #3: Does any of it really matter?

Lyons – For the Colorado Rockies, it does not matter one bit. The pact with Coors Brewing Company is bond, so 20th and Blake Street will never be known by another name. But, maybe, could it someday be known at Breck Ballpark at Coors Field?

Creasman – Crossovers are good.