Via some very well-put disappointment in the development over at Big League Stew comes word that the Kansas City Royals are on the verge of selling naming rights to Kauffman Stadium. Probably to a bank. Almost certainly not to Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ, which is a cryin’ shame.
Does Kansas City have any anti-corporate activists hanging around? Can we not launch “Occupy Blue Ridge Cutoff?”
Eh, I can’t muster too much outrage. The ship on this stuff sailed, what, 15 years ago? Twenty?
I sold my soul to the corporate naming rights back in 2007. Back then the Indians were trying to sell naming rights to the then-Jacobs Field and were having trouble finding a suitor. I spent part of an afternoon looking at a big Cleveland business directory trying to find locally-based business candidates for them. I actually ended up liking the idea of “Progressive Field” better than other potential candidates. The fact that they ended up going with that a few months later probably means that I have no standing to complain.