When Naming Rights Become Naming Wrongs

First of all, the photo is the second link is freakin' awesome. Second, eh. I don't see the big deal. Is it the 200 lost jobs? I doubt there would be such a furor if the bank closed a branch or two and cut off as many jobs. The stadium name is a billboard, an advertisement for a company that appears committed to actively remaining in the city. I bet 99% of the residents who could identify the closest Comerica branch would have to google the location of the headquarters. I don't know where the corporate headquarters are for any of the businesses of whom I am a consumer. But maybe that's because I live in Connecticut. Who headquarters in Connecticut?

posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 10:36 AM - reply - flag:

If you look close enough you can see me among the thousands in the stadium. Personally I don't find it to be a huge deal, especially since the Tigers will still be getting the money from the bank. However, I find it fitting that the City of Detroit is retaliating by finding a new bank.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 10:42 AM - reply - flag:

Wow, that picture is incredible. As for the naming... It sucks, but if they paid/are paying for it, I fail to see the issue.

posted by Drood at 11:16 AM - reply - flag:

t's 200 jobs this year 7300 total when they leave<

posted by bluesman57 at 11:22 AM - reply - flag:

I think this will be enough of a problem that Comerica buys itself out of the contract. The Detroit Tigers may be privately owned, but they are a cherished city institution in the minds of their fans. When they roll into the gates in a month under the name of a company that abandoned Detroit at a time when the city's hurting, that's going to sting. If I were a Tigers fan with holdings in that bank, I'd be changing banks.

posted by rcade at 11:41 AM - reply - flag:

Maybe Micheal Moore can buy the naming rights from them!

posted by Knuckles at 11:52 AM - reply - flag:

Comerica isn't going away. The bank plans to keep its 161 local branches and 7,300 bank employees in the state

posted by Knuckles at 11:54 AM - reply - flag:

It's not like it was named 'Enron Field' for cryin' out loud. Get over it.

posted by drose92264 at 12:31 PM - reply - flag:

a company that abandoned Detroit at a time when the city's hurting I don't buy that they're abandoning the city. Who cares where the headquarters are? They're retaining 7,300 out of 7,500 jobs in the state, and 161 branches. How many states have 161 branches of any bank?

posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 12:44 PM - reply - flag:

At least Comerica doesn't sound totally ass, like Minute Maid or whatever it is they call Candlestick, now. The HQ leaving is still leaving; even if it is only a couple hundred jobs. Were I a proud Detroit citizen I may take some issue with the stadium still being called that. So, if I were running the Detroit Tigers, I would have to consider that.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 12:50 PM - reply - flag:

I wouldn trust Micheal Moore to stick around and help either, he's just as big a capitalist as the next guy...he made a nice 20% profit on his Halliburton stocks... Crafty said that he didnt think the companies that support his teams HQ's are in Conn, al I know is in Indy, Conseco (Fieldhouse) is in the burbs, just outside the city limits, as is the RCA (Dome) HQ's are. The new Lucas Oil Stadium that is being built, they are HQ'd somewhere in the state after the owner moved back here form Cali. So according to what I'm used to, it is weird that Comerica isnt even gonna be HQ'd in the state! I'd just like to add in that I miss the old days when the cities/publics stadiums werent named after a corporation, but times they are a changing, I guess if it wasnt for corporations some teams wouldnt be able to get a new stadium. (ie. Colts) Go Tigers!

posted by dezznutz at 01:06 PM - reply - flag:

We used to have "The Ballpark at Arlington"...that was cool...giving the illusion that the field belonged to the city...but my beloved Rangers sucked. Now we have "Ameriquest Field"...named after a mortgage company from Orange County, CA...and my beloved Rangers still suck. Point being...I don't care whose name is on the door...as long as I get to cheer for my boys in blue. I can't imagine any Tiger fan outside of city hall really gives a hoot. It's not like they have a voice in the matter. Just a choice to continue loving their team...or cry like little girls.

posted by True Blue at 01:11 PM - reply - flag:

Staples HQ is in Boston, but Staples Center is here in L.A. People go there love it, and see it as the best arena in North America. Nobody cares. However, it is not a good thing, one can say that, for those actually know. Honda Center in Anaheim is named after a Japanese company. When the Nets move to Brooklyn, their arena will be called the Barclays Center, even though the back is in green ole England. Many fans care, but again, most could care less, and many do not even know.

posted by LA_Dude at 01:15 PM - reply - flag:

If we're not going to ask why a team from Detroit is named the Tigers, then we may be missing something.

posted by diastematic at 01:18 PM - reply - flag:

dezznut, Conseco Fieldhouse, and the RCA Dome as well as the new football stadium are in the heart of DOWNTOWN Indianapoils. You could just about throw a rock from the RCA Dome to the new football stadium. Maybe that's a stretch but they are both in downtown Indy. GO TIGERS!

posted by sportnut at 01:45 PM - reply - flag:

It's not like they have a voice in the matter. Just a choice to continue loving their team...or cry like little girls. Your logic broke my brain. They're so meek that the macho thing to do is say nothing? A company's choice of headquarters is, like the name of a stadium, symbolic. Texas cares enough about Comerica's HQ to throw the company $3.5 million in stand funds to relocate.

posted by rcade at 01:46 PM - reply - flag:

dezznut, Conseco Fieldhouse, and the RCA Dome as well as the new football stadium are in the heart of DOWNTOWN Indianapolis. You could just about throw a rock from the RCA Dome to the new football stadium. Maybe that's a stretch but they are both in downtown Indy. GO TIGERS! sportnut, I think dezznutz [as an aside, shouldn't it be deeznutz?] was saying that the corporate headquarters of Conseco and RCA are in the suburbs, not that the stadiums to which they have naming rights are in the suburbs.

posted by holden at 02:31 PM - reply - flag:

Rcade...I see your point...if your point is that Tiger fans have a third choice...they can continue to love their team AND cry like little girls. Other than that... 1) I'm very sorry about your broken brain. 2) Did you just say that Detroit fans were meek? (how broken is your brain?) 3) I'd argue that the choice of HQ is financial 4) The name on the the stadium is only symbolic as an advertising icon...like that cute little Geico ghecko. 5) $3.5 MM!!! to relocate? To DFW? Hmmm...that's news to me. I just wish they had used the money on better fireworks at the stadium they lease to Ameriquest.

posted by True Blue at 02:44 PM - reply - flag:

And why is SDU's gym called the "Jenny Craig Center"? THAT is an outrage! Or maybe not. As a side note: I also miss the days when college bowl games came with your standard names like "Cotton", "Orange", and "Rose". Now it's the "Taco Bell Grande-Sized Double Chalupa Meal Fiesta Bowl Brought to you by Ford Motors and Verizon Wireless". Suddenly, I'm hungry.

posted by THX-1138 at 02:55 PM - reply - flag:

Who headquarters in Connecticut? SpoFi's mortal enemy, The Worldwide Leader.

posted by smithers at 03:32 PM - reply - flag:

At least Comerica doesn't sound totally ass, like Minute Maid or whatever it is they call Candlestick, now. Monster Park. But it will always be the stick.

posted by evilchris23 at 04:00 PM - reply - flag:

Oh the good ol' days, when they didn't name Stadiums after corporations... you know, like Wrigley Field..... Oh, never mind.

posted by BlueCarp at 04:31 PM - reply - flag:

Not to be a complete twitch, but didn't Wrigley own the team as well?

posted by THX-1138 at 04:38 PM - reply - flag:

This thread brought to you by Carls Jr.

posted by NoMich at 04:55 PM - reply - flag:

And why is SDU's gym called the "Jenny Craig Center"? THAT is an outrage! Or maybe not. 1) It's USD. University of San Diego. 2) Jenny Craig is (or at least used to be) local to San Diego. 3) Announcers on TV sometimes call it the "Slim Gym". I'll admit I laughed the first time I heard it.

posted by LionIndex at 07:51 PM - reply - flag:

All I know is that if the Red Sox ever sold naming rights to Fenway then I would be furious. When the Celtics built their new Arena and named it Unnamed Rival Bank Garden it was a pretty big deal and a lot of people were pretty upset. Personally basketball bores the shit out of me but I can see why longtime fans were upset.

posted by kyrilmitch_76 at 08:16 PM - reply - flag:

All I know is that if the Red Sox ever sold naming rights to Fenway then I would be furious. Prepare to be furious. It's coming, the same way the Cubs are allowing advertising on the outfield walls this year for the first time. The same way every corporate entity tries to maximize profit, which is their right, and more power to them. It will be your choice at that point whether or not you want to continue in your support of the club. These corporations exist to make money, not to be romantic vistas.

posted by tommytrump at 09:08 PM - reply - flag:

too bad we can't have both tommy trump

posted by brainofdtrain at 11:59 PM - reply - flag:

It's coming, the same way the Cubs are allowing advertising on the outfield walls this year for the first time. Well, for the first time in a while, right? I'm sure those walls had ads in the halcyon days of yore, just like Fenway did and does.

posted by yerfatma at 05:34 AM - reply - flag:

Who headquarters in Connecticut? How about the W W E ??

posted by toradio at 06:33 AM - reply - flag:

It's coming, the same way the Cubs are allowing advertising on the outfield walls this year for the first time. Well, for the first time in a while, right? I'm sure those walls had ads in the halcyon days of yore, just like Fenway did and does. Well, at least not since 1937, when the ivy was planted, according to Chicagosports.com. I haven't been able to find out definitively either way about prior to that, but I can find no information indicating that there was advertising, so, we'll go with there's never been ads, until shown otherwise.

posted by tommytrump at 09:35 AM - reply - flag:

According to the book "Ballparks Then and Now" by Eric Enders: The stadium remains a hold-out in another area, too. It is the only current major league park with no display advertising, a classy feature that makes it easier for fans to concentrate on the game at hand. An accompanying photo, pre-ivy, supports that point. It shows a bare left field wall, and centerfield stands that come right down to the playing surface. Another interesting point in the book is that Wrigley was one of the first parks to have lights -- they were installed in 1915 for "a nightly postgame hippodrome show." It goes on to say that in 1941 the owner Wrigley had lights in hand for baseball purposes, waiting to be installed, when WWII broke out, and he decided to donate the steel to the war effort.

posted by The Crafty Sousepaw at 12:14 PM - reply - flag:

Now it's the "Taco Bell Grande-Sized Double Chalupa Meal Fiesta Bowl Brought to you by Ford Motors and Verizon Wireless". Suddenly, I'm hungry. But do you hit the drive thru, or call... That is a pretty nice pic too. I bet it'll look the same if they move HQ to Trindad and/or/if Tobago.

posted by 2 time mvp of the shittiest team ever at 04:02 PM - reply - flag:

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

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