$700 million to
name a stadium that hasn't been built, for a team that doesn't exist.
When I was a kid I used to visit one of the players on the S.F. 49'ers football team, at the liquor store he owned in my neighborhood. I could get a free team photo there, and he would autograph it. To watch the team play, I went to Kezar Stadium with my Cub Scouts troop. Tickets to the game were very cheap, and we could afford to buy hot dogs, etc. Back then most pro sports players had to have another source of income. (I'm glad that changed; players should earn enough to not need a second job.)
Sometime in the mid-80's I began to hear complaints from middle-class fathers who could no longer afford to take their kids to a ballgame. The price of a hotdog at the game became more than what a ticket used to cost. Nowadays, you don't find many kids attending pro sports events. [exception: When SF built its new stadium, "Pac Bell Park" - renamed "SBC Park" ('03) and "AT&T Park" ('06) - they included a section where anyone can watch three innings of a baseball game without buying a ticket. My friends tell me that the seats provide a good view, and unless others are waiting, they can stay for more than three innnings. bonus: The Park was built without any public funding, as all should be!]
In '96 Candlestick Park was re-named "3Com Park", and in '04, "Monster Park", (for Monster Cable, a manufacturer), though many sportscasters habitually used the original name. Locals always called it Candlestick (again it's official name since '08).
I am not a sports fan nor a customer of 3Com, AT&T, Monster, or Farmer's. And I don't see how adding their name to a building increases their sales, but I like the extra revenue generated by selling the name. I do think that some of that money should be used to lower ticket prices, so that an average guy can afford to take his kid to a ballgame.
Farmers Insurance Exchange to sponsor proposed L.A. NFL stadium - ESPN Los Angeles AT&T Park - history, photos and more of the San Francisco Giants ballpark