Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

'bob' no more

The home field of the Arizona Diamondbacks is no longer Bank One Ballpark. JP Morgan Chase’s recent acquisition of Bank One necessitated a name change, as Bank One is being absorbed into the Chase fold. The ballpark’s new name: Chase Field.

(Related story in The Arizona Republic: “Say goodbye to BOB, hello to … Chase Field” (09/23/05))

While I understand that naming rights are big business — lucrative for the stadium owners and great exposure for the sponsor — I wonder if it’s actually a negative overall. Some teams have legendary relationships with their ballparks: the Yankees and Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox and Fenway, the Cubs and Wrigley and so on… How can people identify with a ballpark whose name is subject to change based on corporate mergers (or, in the case of Enron Field, corporate scandal) or a better offer (these naming deals have limited terms)?

I somehow doubt that people will stubbornly refuse to give up the BOB moniker (unlike Invesco Field née Mile High Stadium in Denver). The Diamondbacks and their stadium haven’t been in Phoenix long enough to really engrain themselves in the fabric of the community. (Certainly, that early World Series win helped, but they don’t have tenure yet — we don’t yet have a generation that’s grown up cheering for their D-backs.) But at the same time, swapping out the ballpark’s name with that of yet another corporate sponsor can’t help that process.