Money destroys a lot of business, and that includes the names of arenas and stadiums. This madness of selling everything all the time has led to a number of dubious and ridiculous decisions in the sports world, including the name of the Gatineau Olympiques arena. I will be called nostalgic, but in my time, and in the time of real hockey, the name of an arena alone could scare off entire teams. For example, a visit to the Garden in Boston was like visiting a garden of pain, and a visit to the Spectrum in Philadelphia was going to hurt, because who wants to go skating in a spectrum? This led to all sorts of viruses, including the Philadelphia Flu, a curious phenomenon where visiting players suddenly found themselves victims of the flu, nasty enough that they were unable to put on skates. Which brings us back to Gatineau and Center Slush Puppie. Will that name scare anyone? No. No one is going to get sick from the “Slush Puppie flu”, and it’s hard to imagine an Olympiques player, in high spirits after a road playoff game, telling a reporter that there is “a couple of guys on the other side who don’t want to go back to Slush Puppie”. That’s not why hockey was invented.
Cryptocurrencies are rolling, huh? Almost every time we now hear about it in the public sphere, it’s because of a bank failure, muddy investments in this sector (greetings Caisse de depot) or money laundering schemes. ‘money. For the past two years, the titles have been plummeting. Bitcoin, the best-known cryptocurrency, has been on the mend for some time, but hit a historic low at the end of 2022… In short, when you have to cover a Canadian game in Los Angeles and that an email from the Kings reminds us of the name of the Crypto.com Arena, the first instinct is to send this unwanted item to the trash. Yet it is very real. By the way, Crypto.com’s stock has lost over 80% of its value in one year, and over 90% since its all-time high in November 2021. How long will the partnership last? To be continued. For the time being, however, it is not very inspiring.
No doubt, a smoothie is a great fast-food option for the athlete in too much of a rush to pack lunch. Still, it’s special that an NBA team, the New Orleans Pelicans, play at the Smoothie King Center. It is indeed a chain of juice counters that bought the rights to the Pelicans arena. Nothing against the quality of the smoothies, which must be tasty, without a doubt. But it’s roughly the equivalent of the Canadiens playing their games at Center Place Tevere. We might feel less in a big league.
From 2006 to 2018, the Arizona Cardinals (NFL) played in the University of Phoenix Stadium. Yes, but still, you ask me? The University of Phoenix football team did not play in this stadium. In fact, the University of Phoenix didn’t even have a football team, or even any other sport. It was simply a university seeking visibility.
Whataburger Field, Texas is the home of the Corpus Christi Hooks, a team affiliated with the Houston Astros. The stadium has both the worst and the best name ever. The worst, because I have always found it absurd that a sports stadium or amphitheater bears the name of a fast food chain. The best, because I think it sounds very good. Say it out loud, you’ll see.
When it comes to crummy names, nothing, absolutely nothing, will ever beat 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheater. It is an outdoor performance hall that can accommodate nearly 20,000 people, not far from Tampa. The notorious 1-800-ASK-GARY is an American attorney broker, which paid for the name from 2010 to 2012. In a survey published in the St. Pete Times, local residents claimed at a 95% Stalinist that the name was either “despicable” or “tasteless (pretty lame)”. As early as 2013, the operator of the amphitheater, the giant Live Nation, chose to put an end to this farce. Not that the current name of MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheater sounds like Jackson, but it is.
What do you think is the worst name for a sports amphitheater, and why?