The name game (Jack Bog's Blog)

It's been nice that Portland's Rose Garden Arena has never had a corporate name attached to it. Unlike PGE Park, Safeco Field, Pac Bell Park, the Staples Center, etc., our largest sports and entertainment facility has always been owned by billionaire Paul Allen's organization, which has resisted the urges to (a) slap the name of one of its own concerns on the place or (b) take a check from the highest bidder for naming rights.

All that's about to change when, come the first of the year, the companies with the mortgage on the Rose Garden foreclose on it in bankruptcy and hire out its operation to an East Coast outfit that runs big venues all over. A new corporate name is a foregone conclusion.

Two big questions emerge, then:

1. Will the name "Rose Garden" still be part of the moniker, or will that get chucked entirely? If it's abandoned, too bad for the City of Roses, which will lose some free publicity for its nickname.

2. Which corporate appellation will be attached? Nike? Adidas? Reebok? Gatorade? Doritos? Intel? Boeing? Rogaine? Viagra?

The possibilities seem endless -- some delightful, some horrendous. I look to college football bowl games for some examples. Remember the Poulon-Weedeater Holiday Bowl? I've always wanted the McMenamin brothers to get involved with the Blazers. Hefeweizen Hall? If it turns out to be too corporate, expect Portland's leftists to come a-marchin' up from the Red and Black Cafe in protest (ironic, since those are also the Trail Blazers' colors). What do they want, Anarchists Arena next door to the Memorial Coliseum?

Just pray it isn't Aflac.

Comments (6)

Hmmm. Think of the variations that could come from an Alpenrose sponsorship.

Roses grow well in cow manure, don't they?

Posted by hilsy | November 13, 2004 10:17 AM

Why not name it after a politician? Hatfield got to have his name slapped on a big spending project downtown. This was a reward for getting the pork; this, even though the pork was less than the net take by the feds from the area.

Can you identify the politician that was most responsible for the 30 million dollar public money for the arena way back when? That politician should have had their name plastered on the big building all along. The viewers of the giant letters could decide for themselves if it is meant as a positive or negative reference.

Posted by ron | November 13, 2004 11:39 AM

The joke is on the companies that rename stadia. Does anyone really refer to Candlestick Park as anything other than Candlestick Park? Renaming is especially futile when you realize how many of these stadia have had multiple corporate sponsors. People will stick with the name they know, despite all attempts to change their behavior. (sidebar: is there a sign *anywhere* that names the Banfield Freeway? How long does it take a newbie to Portland to figure out that the Banfield is I-84 between I-5 and I-205? Somehow that name persists even though the freeway has been marked I-80N and I-84.)

The time to name a facility is when it opens. Staples Center is likely to be Staples Center in the hearts and minds long after the Staples name is removed. Paying to rename the Garden now is a foolish waste of marketing dollars, IMO.

Posted by Realist | November 14, 2004 12:17 AM

Oh come on you don't like the sound of the Miracle-Gro Rose Garden?

Posted by Jon Dunn | November 14, 2004 5:05 AM

One good controversy deserves another. How about naming it after one of our local heros like Harding Bowl.

Or one of respect like Groening Bowl?

Posted by Andy | November 14, 2004 10:18 AM

Quite off topic, but the Banfield is labeled as such in the Thomas Guide to Portland Metro.

Posted by Jud | November 15, 2004 7:13 AM