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The 9 Worst Corporate Stadium Names in America

by Bruce Watson Feb 25th 2013 1:00PM
Updated Feb 26th 2013 4:07PM
Florida Atlantic University
Last week, Florida Atlantic University announced plans to name its stadium after GEO Group, a privately-owned multinational prison corporation. The naming, which comes after GEO pledged to give $6 million to the university, has already drawn protests. On the amusing end of the spectrum, some critics are referring to the sports complex as "Owlcatraz," after the school's owl mascot. On the less amusing end, the naming deal has drawn attention to GEO's spotty history, including allegations of sexual abuse and claims that it withheld medical treatment from prisoners. According to The Huffington Post, the company may also have attempted to scrub its Wikipedia page.

As the GEO Group Stadium story continues to play out, it is casting fresh light on corporate sponsorship of sports venues -- a revenue generator that, as many commentators have pointed out, can certainly have its downside. Here's a look at nine of the worst corporate stadium naming choices:



Bruce Watson is a senior features writer for DailyFinance. You can reach him by e-mail at bruce.watson@teamaol.com, or follow him on Twitter at @bruce1971.

Around The Web

Opponents of FAU stadium name demand meeting

Report: FAU stadium name rights bought by private prison group

ESPN.com: SPORTSBUSINESS - Stadium naming rights

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7 Comments

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Joe Knight

So you have a problem with the name Amway? Perhaps you would prefer the phrase for which it is a contraction: "American Way". Amway is not "stale direct-marketing". They celebrate free enterprise system on which this country was founded (which is in real trouble if our government continues on its current path). If I were a player for the Orlando Magic, I would be proud to play in the Amway Center.

April 30 2013 at 12:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Craig

At least I didn't see Trojan Stadium, for the condom distributor, imagine how the hot dogs would be wrapped?

February 26 2013 at 3:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
erink91321

Remembering the Raymond James takeover of the original Tampa Stadium in 1995 and then the Mayor raised property Taxes and other Taxes to build James a new stadium. It is time to say it is Time to dismantle the Corporate world piece by piece and return the Money to the People

February 26 2013 at 10:04 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
lthousega

At my age and time it does not matter what they build or what they are called-The money for major league has gone way beyond my comprehension.The last game I saw was in 1944 at Sportmans Park---The Cardinals were in the World Series against the Browns--I paid $0.50 for my ticket and that was a Lot of money then--I wonder how much a reserved seat at any World Series game would be today----????

February 25 2013 at 7:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
therekojjoker

So if the home team looses does the entire campus go on lockdown? I can hear the announcer now saying "here come the owls onto the field sporting their black and white striped uniforms" ha ha. How about if the team looses a game they go straight to the rock pile for a week. Wait a minute, hold it arnt there supposed to be 26 players on the team? I counted only 25, oh i guess they know, the sirens are wailing ha ha ha. And finally-------With a name like the owls don't you think a better sponsor would be "HOOTERS" yeaaaaaa. the students would luv that.

February 25 2013 at 7:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
therekojjoker

So if the home team looses does the entire campus go on lockdown? I can hear the announcer now saying "here come the owls onto the field sporting their black and white striped uniforms" ha ha. How about if the team looses a game they go straight to the rock pile for a week. Wait a minute, hold it arnt there supposed to be 26 players on the team? I counted only 25, oh i guess they know, the sirens are wailing ha ha ha. And finally-------With a name like the owls dont you think a better sponser would be "HOOTERS" yeaaaaaa. the students would luv that.

February 25 2013 at 7:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
powermetal2000

As a San Francisco area resident, I can assure you that NO 49er or Giants fan EVER called it anything other than Candlestick Park.

February 25 2013 at 6:36 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
vanvorous

No problem with naming a stadium after the folks that "bought the rights" but Denver makes it a past time to find the "highest" bidder. Mile High was fine since the early 60s then it was Invesco after they moved it "down the street" in the 90s now its Sports Authority???

No matter how many time Pat Bolen sells the rights, its always going to be "Mile High stadium for the old school Denver Bronco fans.

February 25 2013 at 5:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jason

The worst in the DC area is Jiffy Lube Live. It use to be Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge which was bad enough but Jiffy Lube Live... really!?

February 25 2013 at 3:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Richard

A sports venue in Philly was built to replace the Spectrum. Now known as the Wells Fargo Center it was briefly called the First Union Center. So the name it was given was The FU Center. I did not make this up.

February 25 2013 at 1:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply