Good Or Bad Idea: Corporate Naming Rights In Sports

Hearts were breaking all over SoCal last week when it was announced the Staples Center in Los Angeles would have a new corporate sponsor as of Christmas Day and would be called Crypto.com Arena. The move comes after a naming rights deal was reached worth a reported $700 Million, allowing the company’s name to be heard every time the Lakers play home games or the venue hosts some of Hollywood’s biggest events and concerts. So, I ask you sports fans: Do you really care what name is on the arenas and stadiums you attend games at? Is corporate naming rights a good idea or bad idea? 

Staples Center will become Crypto dot com Arena, in what's believed to be the richest naming rights deal in sports history. https://t.co/2Ov32pA3jg

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 17, 2021

Paul George on Staples Center being renamed Crypto .com Arena:

"It'll definitely be weird. It's the same location but it's kind of like stripping the history here by calling it something else…Good thing we won't be here too long."pic.twitter.com/r2JPCtWDF2

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) November 17, 2021

Social media was quick to react to the announcement that the Staples Center was going to see a name change next month. Paul George, who still called the arena home as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers said, “It’s the same location, but it’s kind of like stripping the history here by calling it something else … It’ll be weird for sure.”

Noted Los Angeles Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke took things a step further than Paul George did by also acting as if the Staples Center was being torn down and replaced when he took to Twitter and posted:

“Losing Staples Center hurts. Losing the arena name that is synonymous with Kobe Bryant hurts. Losing the name of the place where I witnessed some of the greatest L.A sports moments over the last 20 years hurts.”

Plaschke added,

“The building is still there, I get it, but it’s identity is gone, and so are the settings for so many memories.”

He also mentioned that Los Angeles doesn’t change too many names, noting that Dodgers Stadium and the Rose Bowl have never given in to adding a corporate sponsor, although the New Year’s Day college football game held in Pasadena has had a presenting sponsor for years.

While Plaschke said Staples Center “was a good solid arena name and it stuck,” I ask is twenty years really enough time to insist that the name never be changed? Are fans in Los Angeles not going to another Lakers game because there’s a new name on the arena; are they really emotionally connected to the “Staples Center”?

There are very few venues and buildings that will always have one name tied to them; and even some of them have different names now (see Chicago’s “Sears Tower).  Bill Plaschke says that by having the same names across the Los Angeles landscape, it reminds residents of “where they have been.” Change, reminds us that things will and often must change … and besides, is having an office supply store really the name Los Angeles wants on its most important arena?

The “Staples Center” will always belong to those who watched Kobe Bryant play in the Purple and Gold, and now the arena will have a new name and create new memories for sports fans. As for me, I really don’t care what company’s name is on the outside of an arena or stadium because it is all about business for them and for the franchises they are paying. Besides, no one is lowering the price of a Lakers’ or Clippers’ game ticket now that everyone is getting all these extra millions in naming rights. So, at the end of the day, does corporate naming rights affect our experiences inside an arena? It doesn’t, and that’s my point. 

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The post Good Or Bad Idea: Corporate Naming Rights In Sports appeared first on TOOATHLETIC TAKES.

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By: Rafael Thomas
Title: Good Or Bad Idea: Corporate Naming Rights In Sports
Sourced From: tooathletic.com/good-or-bad-idea-corporate-naming-rights-in-sports/
Published Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2021 13:24:44 +0000

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