Well, you knew that it was only a matter of time. What was once Joe Robbie Stadium, then Pro Player Stadium and then Dolphin Stadium will now be Land Shark Stadium.
Land Shark Lager ... a meeting of Anheuser-Busch and Jimmy Buffett ... have all but secured a naming rights deal for the stadium. The Miami Dolphins and Florida Marlins call the place home.
We all know why stuff like this happens. Stadium owners love getting that extra money of selling off the naming rights while it is big-time advertising for the sponsor. It works ... sometimes. We found out what Enron, Ericsson and Xcel was. Who cares that it makes the name of your stadium sound stupid. I mean, we have U.S. Cellular Field, Gillette Stadium, FedEx Field, Energy Solutions Arena and whatever the name of the Boston Celtics garden is this week.
Naming rights have been around for a long time and, obviously, won't be going anywhere. But what was once places like Wrigley Field, Carrier Dome and Busch Stadium have turned into names that just sound bad off the tongue. I'm cool with stadiums/arenas that sell the name and keep it (like the United Center, Toyota Center, Target Center and Citizens Bank Park). I can get with all of that.
However, I hate when the name keeps changing. It pissed me off when Riverfront Stadium turned into Cinergy Field. Or Comisky Park turned into U.S. Cellular Field. Or when Candlestick Park turned into 3Com Park, Monster Park and now back to Candlestick.
17 of the 32 NFL Stadiums will be named after corporations (amazingly low, to me). 20 of the 30 MLB stadiums are named after companies (10 baseball stadiums have changed their names). 25 of the 30 NBA teams play in sponsored arenas. The Rose Garden, Bradley Center, New Orleans Arena, Madison Square Garden and the Palace at Auburn Hills are the lone wolves.
Just to let you know, your NBA and NHL playoff games will be held in the Staples Center, Toyota Center, Pepsi Center, American Airlines Center, TD Banknorth Garden, Amway Arena, Quicken Loans Arena, Philips Arena, Mellon Arena, Verizon Center, RBC Center, Honda Center, General Motors Place, United Center and ... Joe Louis Arena.
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