Bulls Pull Dome Home Name Game

[KB]

In the Metro section of the Trip today.  He screwed up the facts though.

Bulls Pull Dome Home Name Game

By STEVE OTTO

Published: Jul 20, 2007

So what's in a name, and does it mean USF is doomed to the fields of mediocrity?

We love to label things. Americans pay more for clothes with someone else's name or picture on them than with nothing at all. The advertising people won that game decades ago.

In the world of sport the name game reaches special heights, as private companies pay extraordinary amounts of money to have their names attached to arenas and stadiums.

You can understand why. Arenas take on an aura all their own, some of them reaching mythic status. Who wouldn't want a couple of tickets to see a Packers game on the "frozen tundra of Lambeau Field" even on a frigid January Sunday? What about some seats in October to sit in soon-to-be-torn-down Yankee Stadium and be a part of history?

Up in Gainesville, the original stadium was called Florida Field and dedicated to honor those who served in World War I. The field still has that name, but the stadium is now Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and everybody calls the place The Swamp.

The original Tampa Stadium picked up a little cache when it was dubbed "The Big Sombrero," although nobody has come up with anything catchy to go with what is now Raymond James Stadium.

Out at the University of South Florida is the Sun Dome. As far as names go, that's not so bad, even if it sounds a little like some gadget you would see on TV for warming your bagels using solar heat.

But the Sun Dome for years had to go against the old Florida Suncoast Dome, which became the Thunderdome and now is Tropicana Field in downtown St. Pete.

The What?

Last week, the news came out that USF was considering selling the naming rights to the Sun Dome to a student loan company called Action Sports Media. Fortunately, the company was more than a little shaky and USF called off the deal, saving us from going to basketball games at the Action Sports Media Dome. But it was close.

You remember a few years ago when an alternative newspaper in St. Petersburg spent millions of dollars to gain the naming rights to the hockey arena in downtown Tampa? It used to be called the Ice Palace, which was a swell name. When you said you were going to the Ice Palace, it just sounded like fun.

Now, some people aren't even sure what town the arena is in, which shows that the power of a few bucks doesn't matter when naming a stadium.

Bend Over Park

You can only imagine what is going to happen if county Commissioner Jim Norman is able to push through his proposed

$40 million park out there on the edges of Plant City.

I mean, the obvious name should be something like "Taxpayers Bend Over Park," but they'll probably sell off the naming rights to some developer who happens to want to build a mall out there.

Anyhow, it looks like USF will continue to look for someone who is willing to pay to have their name on an arena where the sun has never really shone on the home team. Maybe a new name will help, but it might need a little more pizzazz than Action Sports Media Dome.

It might also help if the Bulls win a few games.

Steve Otto's column appears Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.

[Held_AccountaBull]

action sports media dome? guy obviously didn't do his homework before writing

[BullsDude08]

guy is obviously a douche and doesn't know a thing about USF. He probably is a gaytor alum

[Brad]

Fennelly must be on vacation.

[ZeroBullChip]

Fennelly must be on vacation.

They rotate their inventory of douchebags?