Commercialization

I was shocked watching the Braves game today. Not the fact that they lost (again), but the fact that the name of the stadium that they were playing had changed without me knowing it. The coolest ballpark name, "The Ballpark in Arlington" has apparently changed to "Ameriquest Field." Wow... doesn't that sound cool? This got me to look into how many stadiums have sponsored names. In the NL, 10 of 16 teams have sponsored names, these led by beer groups of Coors, Busch, and Miller (hey, they're the Brewers, what'd you expect?). In the AL, 8 of 14 teams have sponsored names, led by good ones on this side (Fenway, Yankee, Camden Yards, Jacobs Field). Mind you I gave some fields the benefit of the doubt, like Turner Field whose name is not commercialized, but private.

Where is this leading us in the next 10 years? Pretty soon, we're goin' to hear, "now up to the plate, Andrew Coca-Cola Jones." Then when you go to the concession stand, you'll buy a "Family General Hot Dog." Then you'll walk back to your padded "Jenny Craig seats in section 107." It's getting out of control, and we need to stop it.







Such words as paid advertisement by, paid for by, paid political ad meet the requirements of the act; however, an advertiser is not limited to just those phrases.
Yeah, whatever.