Talk Story
Curse of the corporate
name game haunts
our fields of dreams
WHAT'S in a name? Wouldn't games at Aloha Stadium be just as exciting if the arena were named the Honolulu Advertiser Stadium?The reason I ask is that putting a company's name on a sports venue has become the corporate equivalent of putting an athlete's picture on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
If you're unaware of the SI curse, just ask quarterback Eric Crouch of Nebraska, whose handsome mug graced the magazine's cover the weekend before the Huskers' post- Thanksgiving showdown with Big-12 rival Colorado. The Buffs trounced the previously undefeated, No. 1 Big Red and Crouch has gone from cover boy to likely Heisman Trophy also-ran.
But back to the stadium-name curse.
According to a story this week in the Wall Street Journal, Enron Corp. is its latest victim. Two years after committing $100 million over 30 years to put its name on Enron Field, the home of the Houston Astros, the high-rolling energy company is on the rocks.
Before Enron there was Fruit of the Loom, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1999, three years after putting its Pro Player brand name on the football and baseball stadium in Miami.
TWA was purchased out of bankruptcy by American Airlines after it put its moniker on the home dome of the St. Louis Rams. And don't forget PSINet, a telecom outfit that bought a 20-year lease on the name for the new Baltimore Raven football stadium, also for $100 million. It filed bankruptcy papers in June.
Edison International is the parent of Southern California Edison. Since the home of the Anaheim Angels became Edison Field, the utility has been flirting with bankruptcy, too. So are airlines United and America West, which put their names on venues in Chicago and Phoenix, respectively.
The curse extends beyond football and baseball. The Florida Panthers hockey team has been looking for a new arena-name sponsor since Nov. 13, when ANC Rental Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection.
Besides bankruptcy, other bad things can happen to companies with the nerve to put their names on sports arenas. Take Compaq Computer, for example. In better days, it put the Compaq name on indoor arenas in Houston and San Jose and, today, it is struggling to sell itself to Hewlett-Packard.
Also, consider 3Com Corp., which had a share price of $39.50 back in 1995 when blustery Candlestick Park became 3Com Stadium, to the puzzlement of almost everybody. This week, 3Com shares could be had for $4.66.
Stadium namers are also frequent takeover targets. ARCO, for example, put its label on the home of the NBA Sacramento Kings and WNBA Monarchs and was snapped up last year by BP PLC. Naming rights to the San Francisco Giants' new stadium were bought for $50 million by Pacific Telesis, which was then acquired itself by SBC Communications.
In Boston, Shawmut National Corp. put its name on a new indoor arena, but before it even opened for play, FleetBoston Financial Corp. bought Shawmut. While the Patriots' new CMGI Stadium has been under construction, CMGI Inc.'s stock price has plunged from $150 a share early last year to $2.14 today.
Philadelphia has an arena with a real identity crisis. The CoreStates Center has already become the First Union Center. Next summer, as mergers and takeovers continue to take their toll, it will change again to the Wachovia Center.
Apparently immune to the curse -- at least so far -- are Qualcomm, FedEx, GM and PepsiCo. All of these companies have stadiums or arenas named after them and seem to be prospering ... so far.
Despite the curse, there are more than a dozen stadia and arenae looking for name sponsors, including the Superdome in New Orleans, Comiskey Park in Chicago, the former Trans World Dome in St. Louis and, of course, Pro Player Stadium in Miami. Any takers?
It's just as well that the Special Events Center at the University of Hawaii never became the Liberty House Arena, the American-Hawaii Cruises Dome or the World Point Center.
But there's still time for a Honolulu Advertiser Stadium.
John Flanagan is the Star-Bulletin's contributing editor.
He can be reached at: jflanagan@starbulletin.com.