Which two National Football League teams are playing today at Nissan Stadium?
How about TIAA Bank Field?
Which baseball playoff game is being played at Citizens Bank Park?
Remember when stadiums used to have names that were evocative of the cities they inhabited or the teams that played there?
Those were the days, my friends.
Of course there are still a few. The University of Michigan Wolverines play in a football stadium that seats 107,601 fans. It’s the largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere, and in all its majesty it’s called …
Michigan Stadium.
A great stadium, just like Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, Soldier Field in Chicago, and of course Blue Heaven, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
In too many places, though, it’s all about the Benjamins these days.
Denver had one of the very best football stadiums when the Broncos played in Mile High Stadium, probably as wonderfully unique a stadium name as there was. But when they tore down the stadium and built a new one, they changed the name just enough to ruin it.
Empower Field at Mile High Stadium.
Of course it’s all about money. Corporations pay many millions of dollars to put their names on various stadiums as advertising for their products, but I can’t help but wonder if living outside a city whose stadium is called Mercedes-Benz actually makes people want to buy those particular cars.
But they could have so much better names, names that would mean something to their teams.
The Broncos should play in the Corral.
The Redskins should have played in the Wigwam.
The Raiders should play in the Pirate Ship and the Bears in the Cave.
The Denver Nuggets should play in the Goldmine.
As it is, how many people could be dropped into Bank of America Stadium and know without any other clues that they were in Charlotte? Or Hard Rock Stadium and know they were in Miami?
And what’s the difference between AT&T Park and AT&T Stadium? Actually, it’s two time zones and about 1,750 miles, and the first of the two is now called Oracle Park. The San Francisco Giants play in the first and the Dallas Cowboys play in the second.
It could be worse. A lot worse.
How about Trump Field at Kardashian Stadium?
That’ll be the name of the venue when Hell gets a franchises.