See you at the “O”
- 04.26.11, 12:52
- 57 Comments
Sports Business Daily is reporting that internet retailer Overstock.com is getting naming rights at the Coliseum for six years, at $2 million per. Overstock has gone through many different ad campaigns over the years. The new one includes a new actress spokesperson, Caitlin Keats. Now I haven’t bought anything from Overstock in years, and I always found them more geared towards housewares and with a feminine edge. Buying naming rights to the home of the Black Hole is certainly a move away from that. I personally have nothing to say about the name change other than this:
Knowing that Overstock is pushing its O.co domain hard, Ken Arneson is trying out a bunch of new names. My favorite is the “O.co Liseum.” Squint hard enough and you might think it’s not commercial at all. Maybe not.
@jk-usa – Ellison moving a team to SF would be the worst possible outcome for the W’s. Much of the fanbase, which is already frustrated by the W’s inability to win consistently, would drop the team like a bad habit. Add SF’s cachet and a new arena’s polish and the W’s would be in serious trouble.
ML, uh, not so sure about that. SF Hornets or some new franchise won’t be like the W’s. And the odds are the W’s will win one of these years.They just got to!!
“I’m a bit concerned with the six-year term. Is that reflective of the belief that the A’s/Raiders might be there for an additional 6 years? Yikes.”
Don’t be. The contract has an out clause for Overstock/O.co if the Raiders and/or A’s leave the stadium.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2011/04/raiders-black-hole-will-now-be-at-overstockcom-coliseum/1
Now isn’t this lovely… sites like Yahoo are leading with this story today.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/The-Oakland-Raiders-get-a-new-ridiculous-stadiu?urn=nfl-wp1313
Article titles like “Raiders Rename Stadium”, “The Oakland Raiders get ridiculous new stadium name”, and the like. Almost no mention of the A’s.
I guess the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville is also worse.
” laughingstock .com ” and ” understock.com ” will ,I’m sure, be what the New York based TV media will soon dub the Coliseum
@jk “I wish LE was a baseball fan and would look into the A’s. He doesn’t have a problem with Oakland like LW does, putting his company name on the Oracle Arena.”
You simply cannot discuss this rationally without understanding the difference between putting a company name on a building and persuading thousands of corporate buyers to pay big bucks for premium seating and making the trudge up to the venue for 81 games per year.
The building sponsorship is like a billboard. You can make advertising buys anywhere in the country regardless of where your business or customers are located; it really doesn’t matter. As long as the building gets mentioned in the media, you’re set. The fact that Oakland’s arena was good enough for a sponsorship (in a market which currently has no other NBA team) tells you absolutely nothing about Oakland’s viability for a privately financed baseball park, or about Ellison’s feelings about the city.
Let me put it this way: Ellison is a FAR more ruthless businessman than Wolff, and his ties to Silicon Valley are deeper than Wolff’s. Do you really believe, even in your desperate delirium of fandom, Ellison would be putting any less effort into getting to SJ than Wolff is?