The home of the Arizona Cardinals is about to get a new name after almost 11 years as University of Phoenix Stadium
Originally when the Arizona Cardinals were looking for a partner for naming rights to their stadium back in 2006, the name University of Phoenix didn’t sound appealing. Some worry was people would confuse the name and the Cardinals playing at an actual University.
That worry went by the way side and now the name University of Phoenix Stadium has become known as a premier sporting venue in the United States. That name will soon be gone however.
It was announced today that the 20-year naming rights agreement would be coming to an end early. About nine-years early to be exact. The timing is interesting.
This all smells like something to do with money. Doesn’t it always? University of Phoenix and the Cardinals can spin this however they want (and they have) but these things usually come down to money. AZcentral.com does allude to that a bit in discussing declining enrollment in their piece about the change.
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So now the Cardinals are in a search for a new partner in naming the stadium. There will be a lot of speculation who will end up with the naming rights but I imagine it won’t take too terribly long to find someone.
Name changes on sporting venues take place constantly. Just last year U.S. Airways Arena in downtown Phoenix changed to Talking Stick Resort Arena. The only problem with that change is now some people visiting and wanting to attend an event there, head to Scottsdale to the actual resort. I’ve seen people confuse the two.
Hopefully they don’t end up with something ridiculous like Hanes Underwear Stadium or Pepto Bismol Stadium. On the other hand, it could be worse. Remember when someone wanted to dish out millions to name it Pink Taco Stadium? Pass.