I always thought these corporate naming deals for stadiums were gross. I remember when Canadian stadiums had names like "The Coliseum" and "The Skydome" instead of "The Roger's Center".
I always thought these corporate naming deals for stadiums were gross. I remember when Canadian stadiums had names like "The Coliseum" and "The Skydome" instead of "The Roger's Center".
Lower league european football kits are my favourite, there is a team behind the ads
https://files.catbox.moe/a3fxhw.webp
https://files.catbox.moe/0op34u.jpeg
That's the closest to Nascar I've seen yet. At the same time, I'm still a fan for the idea that elected officials should be forced to wear their sponsor's logos on their suits like this as well.
My favourite is MAC³PARK Stadium, the home of FC Zwolle in Zwolle, the Netherlands.
It is named after MAC³PARK, a collection of extremely boring business parks (ie office buildings in an industrial zone). The business parks in question are in nowhere near Zwolle (for Dutch standards).
They remind me of the "Brought to You by Carl’s Jr" scenes from Idiocracy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAM1rSObk4c
Year of the Depend adult undergarment.
Brought to you by a burning desire to serve supremely my own interests.
E-Sports teams are still the funniest here. From Shopify Black/Rebellion Gold to T1.
"BC Place" is still BC Place. It was the only World Cup venue that didn't have to hang drapes over its real name.
Wait til you see the names of the actual teams in the Japanese baseball league.
Real pro cycling teams:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCI_WorldTeam#2026 for this year's crop of linoleum manufacturers, insurance firms, and sportswashing petro-states.I mean F1 teams are literally named directly after their corporate owners too (who are not necessarily the ones designing the engines/...) and people seem to love that.
One German football team is named after a pharmaceuticals multinational.
(A special case, it was the workers team for the Bayer plant, like Woolwich Arsenal or 'Locomotiv' of many Slavic cities)
At least that one started as a worker's club. The worse offender is named after an energy drink.
This Indian cricket team is splendidly named:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pune_Warriors_India
Any examples?
Most of the NPB teams are corporate owned and named
- Chunichi Dragons > Chunichi Shimbun (news corporation)
- Hanshin Tigers > Hanshin Electric Railway
- Tokyo Yakult Swallows > Yakult Honsha (yes, the probiotic milk beverage company)
- Yokohama DeNA BayStars > DeNA (ecommerce/mobile games/online services)
- Yomiuri Giants > Yomiuri Shimbun (media conglomerate)
- Chiba Lotte Marines > Lotte Holdings (related to the South Korean Lotte Corporation mostly known for their confectionery and ice creams)
- Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks > SoftBank (I think everyone knows them on HN)
- Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters > Nippon Ham (food processing)
- Orix Buffaloes > Orix (investment banking)
- Saitama Seibu Lions > Seibu Railway
- Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles > Rakuten (I think everyone knows them on HN)
But that's not a Japanese only thing, the Korean (KBO) and Taiwanese (CPBL) baseball leagues are the same
Kia Tigers, KT Wiz, LG Twins, Lotte Giants, Samsung Lions
CTBC Brothers, Rakuten Monkeys, Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, Fubon Guardians
And not even a baseball thing only the football teams in the region are the same
They basically embed company names directly into team names.
Here is a couple of examples: Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.
I get why they do it, but at the very least it should be "sponsor name real name", not "sponsor name generic description of arena".
Spotify Camp Nou is annoying and worse than Camp Nou, but at least there is some soul and belonging. "Spotify Arena" would have been disgusting and empty.
It always boggles my mind when fans say "so and so at the AT&T stadium"... Until a new sponsor comes in.