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Old Jul 21, 2012, 3:46 am
  #3  
OzTennis
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 444
Slightly off thread but a good chance to have a rant about 'good marketing' from the perspective of the fans and sporting history. I personally don't mind a new stadium selling the naming rights eg Arsenal's Emirates Stadium but it's less acceptable to sell the name for a long established stadium.

e.g. Mike Ashley bought Newcastle United in 2007. He's the owner of the biggest chain of sporting goods stores in the UK (and has stakes in 3 or 4 of its competitors as well as owning the brand names which his store sells such as Donnay, Dunlop, Slazenger, Karrimor etc, etc, etc). NUFC has played at St James' Park since 1892 but last year Ashley, as is his right as owner, changed it to the Sports Direct Arena. It will always be St James' Park, just like it will always be the Santiago Bernebeu.

Melbourne has a state of the art stadium with a sliding roof. When it was first built the naming rights were sold for 10 years or so to a bank which went broke, the rights were then sold to the largest Telco company in Oz but not renewed and now it has it's 3rd naming rights owner. Welcome to Colonial Stadium, no Telstra Dome, no Etihad Stadium. On the other hand, the nearby best facility in the world will always be known as the MCG - Melbourne Cricket Ground.
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