Pages

03 February 2006

Giants ballpark renamed again

As expected, that ballpark in China Basin, SBC Park, which was formerly named Pacific Bell Park or Pac Bell Park, is switching names once again to "AT&T Park". Last year's SBC-AT&T merger resulted in the new conglomerate taking on the older, more familiar moniker. The change has also been accompanied by a relentless marketing and ad campaign launched at the beginning of the year. (Speaking of which - Oasis? Puh-leeze. Damon Albarn of Blur/Gorillaz has more talent in his right pinky than Liam "The Rawk Stah" and Noel "One Scale" Gallagher combined. I know Oasis is Billy Beane's fave band, but it's the truth.)

"AT&T Park" doesn't really roll off the tongue and is probably worse than "SBC Park", but "Pac Bell Park" didn't elicit a velvety, dulcet pronunciation either and was given far too much credit for not being a set of initials.

There was the ill-fated attempt by SF Supervisors Chris Daly and Matt Gonzalez to force the edifice to be named after Willie Mays. There's still a petition effort, but contracts are contracts, so don't expect the place to be renamed out of kindness. Fans could force "Mays Field" to stick by consciously incorporating it into their vernacular, nevermind what the tickets and signage says. No offense to the Sey Hey Kid, I'm going to call it what it should be, reflective of another era when baseball wasn't the sole notable monopoly in the States:
  • Ma Bell

On the other side, supposedly Lew Wolff already has a naming rights partner in mind, and it's not a company that makes consumer products. A bank or financial services company? B2B? Whatever it is, it's probably not going to roll off the tongue easily either.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bank?

Wells Fargo Park?
B of A Field?
Washington Mutual Coliseum?

Anonymous said...

Wells Fargo Field. It could have some kind of neon urban cowboy theme going on. It would be suhhhhh-weet. A big 'ol Cowboy Curtis statue in left field.... wait. I am drifting into Pee Wee Herman Land.

Wells Fargo Presents Oakland Athletics Field.

Or something like... Providian Financial Presents the Oakland Coliseum II. The media would call it the Sequel... Like The Empire Strikes Back, the only sequel better than the original.

I just sense something really strange coming out of this.

Anonymous said...

Diteck Park?
E-Trade Field?
Merril Lynch Field?
Forbes Field?

Marine Layer said...

I wish I had taped or captured the video. Wolff alluded to having a sponsor last July, when he spoke with the TV crew during an A's-Angels game. I'm guessing that he said it because people might automatically make the link to GAP because of the presence of John Fisher. It makes sense for GAP to have a major sponsorship role just as they did across the bay with Old Navy. I only mentioned banks or financial services companies because they have a large share of the market.

If you're looking for a local company, try E-LOAN in Pleasanton. They're already a sponsor.

Anonymous said...

As for the future name of the A's ballpark...
If it's Fremont: "NUMMI Park at Fremont"
San Jose: "Adobe Field at Diridon Yards" (The Big "A") or "Cisco Park"
Oakland:????????? Perhaps "Athletics Park at Coliseum Landing"

Anonymous said...

I had to laugh when San Diego announced their coporate sponsor. Imagine my marketing scheme being implemented...."Welcome to Petco park, watch your step."