Shea 2 = CitiField

by Doc Manhattan on Nov 11, 2006 4:48 PM EST

ESPN.com reports that the sponsorship and naming rights for the new Mets stadium will be bought by CitiBank/CitiGroup for some staggering sum of money.

It seemed pretty unikely that the Mets would build a boutique stadium without selling off the naming rights, and CitiField could be much much worse. Still, it would've been nice to have a commerce-free name.

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Well....

another one bites the dust.

"We praise or blame as one or the other affords more opportunity for exhibiting our power of judgement." Friedrich Nietzsche, "All Too Human" (1878)

by wgarrett on Nov 11, 2006 5:17 PM EST reply actions

The Jackie Robinson name

was actually a good and noble idea, and the King/Ashe tennis center next door kinda shows the difference in class.

But livable. Our highest-paid player will play courtesy of this for years.

by peeder on Nov 11, 2006 6:47 PM EST reply actions

Yeah, It's Liveable But.....

I still lament the loss of recognizable names for the ballparks. With a product or company name for nearly all of the ballparks, there seems, to me, to be a bit of identity lost. Look, I understand corporations will rule it all one day (even our government will be this way in some murky, distant future) but I just don't like it.

Yet another crumb that breaks off and gently floats away down the revenue stream.

"We praise or blame as one or the other affords more opportunity for exhibiting our power of judgement." Friedrich Nietzsche, "All Too Human" (1878)

by wgarrett on Nov 12, 2006 7:15 AM EST reply actions

Nothing new

It is sad, but our memory is skewed by sentiment and the fact that Americans have become so numb to commercialism. We forget the "Wrigley Field" has always had a corporate name, and we don't recognize that "Yankee Stadium" has effectively been a corporate name since the Jacob Ruppert years. Even the Shea name effectively honors a man whose memorable accomplishment was requisitioning money for the team--appropriate indeed, but certainly commercial.

I did it like this / I did it like that / I did it with a Wiffle Ball bat

by Doc Manhattan on Nov 12, 2006 9:36 AM EST up reply actions

When I Made My Statement....

the things you mentioned were taken into consideration before I stated it. If we want to really state how "skewed" our memories are, we can make the statement that the professional leagues were not created out of a desire to make money. None of the professional leagues that were created were done for altruistic purposes, for any sport. The names of the teams, themselves, are product names, too. Marketing is a large part of sports, and capitalism, in general.

In light of all this, and much more we all could mention, I still think some identity has been lost with coporation names.

"We praise or blame as one or the other affords more opportunity for exhibiting our power of judgement." Friedrich Nietzsche, "All Too Human" (1878)

by wgarrett on Nov 12, 2006 12:50 PM EST up reply actions

agreed

(And I did not mean to diminish or contradict your earlier points. No disrespect.)

I especially dislike corporate sponsors who attach themselves to the identity of the team, then turn around and screw over the fans as a captive audience. As bad a $10 MGD is at Shea, it's even worse at Miller Park.

I did it like this / I did it like that / I did it with a Wiffle Ball bat

by Doc Manhattan on Nov 12, 2006 1:53 PM EST up reply actions

No Disrespect Taken....

just wanted to add to my statement. I just wonder when the ballplayers will become like race cars with ads all over their uniforms? When will the madness end??????

"We praise or blame as one or the other affords more opportunity for exhibiting our power of judgement." Friedrich Nietzsche, "All Too Human" (1878)

by wgarrett on Nov 12, 2006 10:47 PM EST up reply actions

not so bad.

Considering the kind of crap they could have come up with, I am almost pleased with the new name. We can simply refer to it by the homophone "City Field" and pretend it's named after the town, not the bank. It's a lot better than MorganStanley Field at GlaxoBurrowsWelcomeSmithKlineBeecham Park, which seems to be the naming pattern for most new stadiums.

by anonymous on Nov 12, 2006 11:06 AM EST reply actions

also

People taking the 7 train out to "the Citi" will pass that mammoth (and remarkably phallic) green Citibank (or Citigroup, whatever) building. It's somewhat fitting.

by hotspur on Nov 13, 2006 11:37 AM EST up reply actions