One Year Stadium Naming Rights Deals Are A Bad Idea

Even more annoying than a corporate stadium name, is a stadium name that changes all the time – like Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins/Dolphin/Land Shark Stadium.    Pick something and keep it.

“Dolphin Stadium president Bruce Schulze confirmed Friday that a naming rights deal with Land Shark Lager is likely. The Dolphins are expected to unveil the new name at a news conference next Friday.”
Financial terms of the deal have not been released.
The one-year deal by Land Shark shows that A-B and Buffett are looking to market the brand to a broader audience, given that the stadium will host the 2010 Super Bowl

More here.

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Rebier to New York Mets and Yankees Fans: Shut Up and Enjoy (Newsday)

My mood today made me decide to share Anthony Reiber’s column in Monday’s Newsday and yes I’m picking out the sentences that fit my mood.

Words by Anthony, pictures are mine.

Not that we don’t love a good Yankees- or Mets-bashing story here, but what’s jumped out at us is a) how nice both places are for fans to watch a game and b) the overall tone of whininess from fans about the new parks.

Seriously, now, people, quitcherbellyachin’.

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1) A small number of upper-deck seats at Citi Field have obstructed views because of plexiglass railings. Simple solution: remove the plexiglass railings.

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5) They got the field views right at Yankee Stadium – it really looks as if you’re watching a game at the old stadium! – but the Great Hall entryway feels like, as I overheard someone say the other day, “just another mall in Paramus.” And I don’t find the Jackie Robinson Rotunda at Citi Field all that impressive, but then again, I’ve never been a big rotunda fan.



http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-sprieber0412728663may03,0,3028525.column



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Also, complaining to me about tickets won’t do you any good. If the Yankees or Mets stuck you with bad season tickets, first of all, congratulations on having the dough to afford even bad season tickets.

Thanks Anthony!  What section are your seats in again?  Tell Boomer Esiason I said hi.

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Jeff Wilpon: Roof On Mets Citi Field Would Have Changed Look

So on days like these the Mets Police can’t help but wonder how Metro NYC built not one, not two, but three new stadiums (stadia?) without a retractable roof.

The Times wrote about that today…but what catches my eye is Jeff Wilpon, as he often does.

Jeff Wilpon, the Mets’ chief operating officer, said his team studied retractable roof ideas for Citi Field that might have cost $150 million. Moreover, he said, “the look and feel of the place would have changed dramatically.”

Wilpon also said that the support system for a retractable roof would have eliminated too many parking spaces and that the high-water table in Flushing would have been a complicating factor.

But what if the Yankees and the Mets had shared a new stadium at a location between the Yankees’ base in the Bronx and the Mets’ base in Queens?

Wilpon recalled discussions during the Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani administration about building such a stadium in Manhattan.

That sort of stadium might have included a retractable roof for less than the combined cost of the two new stadiums, and it could have been used for other purposes during the off-season.


The “AppleDome” would have made tons of sense, especially now that Yankee Stadium is yankee stadium in name only.

As for Jeff’s comment about changing the look…I really don’t see anyone at all excited about Ebbetts Field.  That would have been a better idea for the Cyclones.   I’d rather be comfortable.

I bet some Yankee fans wouldn’t have minded the AppleDome last night.

Good stuff here.

Published: May 5, 2009
The absence of a roof was relevant Monday as rain fell at Yankee Stadium and delayed the start of a game against the Boston Red Sox.


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New York Mets Not Playing Favorites With Newspapers

The only newspaper now provided in the clubhouse is USA Today, whose coverage of the Mets is very limited.
Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz confirmed the removal of the tabloids, but claimed it was because the club “didn’t want to play favorites among the New York newspapers.”
Horwitz also said the Mets chose to provide USA Today because “it is the official paper of Major League Baseball,” even though USA Today is published by Gannett.

The Post adds that

The newspapers were a staple of the Mets’ clubhouse for decades at Shea Stadium, but a source said team management didn’t want the players exposed to the “bad vibes” from the tabloids after back-to-back September collapses.

I’m surprised that the Mets can’t afford the $5 it would cost to have all the locals.

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In New York, Mets and Yankees Fans Always Wrong

I’ve had it with the elite media, who never sit in a regular seat, who are completely out of touch with the fans.

Craig Carton on WFAN is one of the good guys.  He is sticking up for the little guy over Yankee-gate.  Carton understands that you might not want to sit in the rain for a third hour, after paying for parking, after sitting out for two hours, when you have no idea when the game might begin.  He also understands that if you have just left the stadium and then hear that they are going to play, that you might want to get back in.

His partner, former NFL QB Boomer Esiason, likely has never sat in the Promenade or Grandstand.  I bet Boomer gets nice seats, and gets to wait out the rain delay in the clubs.  I bet had Boomer been three feet outside the stadium, someone would have let him right back in the press gate.

Steve Somers talks about fans being whiny about obstructed views.  I guess Steve thinks the seat on the left is just fine.

I had a private email exchange with a reporter yesterday.  His suggestion was to not buy those seats.  So every human is supposed to somehow know not to buy Section 533 Row 1 at Citi Field?   Don’t you have a reasonable expectation to see the game?  Wouldn’t a normal person assume Row 1 had a good view?

Baseball isn’t like the NBA, NHL, Broadway or a movie.  At those events you know that 99.9% of the time the event will start as scheduled.   In baseball it sometimes rains, and the fans get told too bad.

I was listening to WCBS last night.   Suzyn kept saying she had no idea when or if the game would start.  If she doesn’t know, how can they expect some regular guy not to throw in the towel at 9pm?   She also kept mentioning how cold it was.

Back to the reporters suggestion that we don’t buy tickets.  I believe the great prophet Phil Mushnick’s predictions have finally come true.  We are going to stop going to games.

A big time Yankee fan I know is so disgusted with last night’s late start and no-raincheck that he has decided that this will be his last year of season tickets.  He realizes it’s cheaper to just get the games you want on Stubhub.  He also reminded me that parking at Yankee is projected to be $29 next year (I’ll post that in a few minutes).

I will predict right now that neither the Mets nor Yankees will draw as well in 2010 as they do in 2009, and thus tickets will be even easier to get.

Yankees-Red Sox in a brand new stadium.  Big deal, right?  As of 8:55 am there are 4100 tickets on Stubhub, and you can sit in the Grandstand for $17.50 (plus fees).

Fans, you are all a bunch of whiners.  You don’t get it.  You should be thrilled to sit in the rain for hours.

Send your stories to [email protected]  and any pictures to [email protected]

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