From the Lone Red Seat: New Name, Who Dis?

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Fenway Park.” Growing up, I always eagerly anticipated hearing these words prior to the introduction of the Boston Red Sox for that day’s game. I can’t imagine Fenway Park being named anything other than Fenway Park. Its name is inseparable from its identity, or is it?

While the Red Sox aren’t planning to change the name of their park any time soon, at least not that I know of, the past few years have seen some questionable name changes for home fields. The home of the Chicago White Sox, formerly known as U.S. Cellular Field or the “the Cell,” is now adorned with a humongous arrow pointing downward in reference to its new name: Guaranteed Rate Field. To be blunt, it looks hideous and the name took away from one of the most endearing nicknames for a park in Major League Baseball. The Chicago White Sox aren’t the only ones to change the name of their park. Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners, became T-Mobile Field, and AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, became Oracle Park for the start of this season.

To be fair, this reaction might be classified as an overreaction on my end. There are still six parks named after the city’s MLB team without any corporate sponsorship, which is significantly more than the two combined for the NFL, NHL, and NBA.

But, and this is a big but, I don’t like this trend. I don’t want to go to a Red Sox game at Smoothie King Park or buy a ticket for a Cubs game at Little Caesars Field (Both of these, for reference, are in fact corporate sponsors for NBA arenas.) Nope. That just doesn’t sound right.

Look, I know the world of sports is about making money, both on and off the field or court. One of the best ways to make money, and quickly, is to sell the naming rights to wherever you play to the highest bidder. Nothing compares to this stable cash intake for a sports team.

Call me a purist or call me ignorant, but I think baseball needs to resist the urge of selling out to corporate sponsorship for all of their parks. It may seem like the name of the stadium is pretty inconsequential to the game on the field. And maybe it is. There is, however, a slippery slope that starts once you start to prioritize corporate sponsorship. Next thing you know, the New York Yankees will have dating app advertisements on the front of their jerseys. (Once again, a real practice done in the NBA.)

Next time the MLB wants to put a larger than life, bright red arrow next to a highway to try to attract fans to the park, maybe they should think twice. Instead of selling ridiculous corporate sponsorships, maybe try to get fans to come to the park in the first place by filling seats.