Today’s big match has reminded me of a rant I published back on July 31, 2011, which was the 1-year anniversary of the first match in the Aviva Stadium. Or whatever you call it.
I was happy to read a post from a fellow blogger who said “Too often a ‘change is bad’ mentality has pervaded rugby”. It's not important what the post was about, at least not for this article anyway. But this is very true.
Sometimes I wonder how on earth the sport of rugby union ever accepted professionalism. Then I remember it's because of cold hard cash. But even since this change the sport's blazers, plus a sizeable chunk of it's fans, have slowly lurched forward when it comes to accepting new ideas. Although the process of imprinting a professional standard on the framework of a code that had been amateur for over a century was a very challenging one, it was not exactly a challenge that was met with any urgency, that's for sure.
There are many different areas in which I could write a post like this under the general theme of “rugby's unwillingness to accept change”. But this time I want to focus on the corporate naming of stadia, and from what I see around the ruggersphere, mine is unlikely to be a popular view.
The way I see it, they are called “naming rights” for a reason. Once a stadium is built, it needs serious wedge to keep it going. Normally that wedge comes from a continuous stream of events happening there. But if a company comes along offering some extra wedge just for the sake of changing the name, I reckon anyone would be a fool not to take it.
And when that agreement is made and the money has changed hands, I think it's pretty acceptable for those involved in the game to proceed to use the name, the same way as it's acceptable, for example, for the players to wear jerseys bearing the names of the team's sponsors.
I first went to Lansdowne Road in the 80's. Which to many young folk makes me an “old fart”. And it was always, always Lansdowne Road. But my enjoyment of the game didn't come from calling the ground Lansdowne Road. Nor did it come from watching the greats like Fergus Slattery, Ollie Campbell and Brendan Mullin ply their un-paid trade without O2 splashed all over their training kit. It came from what they did with the ball from kickoff till the final whistle.
Now, let's be clear. Individuals can call the stadium whatever the hell they want. And they can go “harrumph” over the naming of the stadium all they want.
But HERE is where I draw the line...eh, please don't “correct” me when I call it the Aviva Stadium?
I run a very humble quiz through HarpinOnRugby, and if someone offers me a prize for it, I have no problem renaming the Quiz after their business. Already I've had the Emerald Rugby Magazine League and the BlueMagic.ie League is underway. Is that not fair enough?
I remember when a kite was flown in the press about the possibility of the new Thomond Park accepting naming rights. Well by God, you'd swear they were suggesting Ronan O'Gara be transferred to Leinster going by the reactions of the Munster faithful. And that's fine, if that's what the fans want, and in many ways I say fair play to the Munster board for respecting their wishes.
Still - €44 million for ten years calling it the Aviva Stadium? Might not have been the going rate for Thomond but even half of that? Just for a frickin name??? And this coming from me don't forget – I'm hardly what you'd call free-market capitalism's biggest fan!!!
And for what it's worth, I don't like the structure of the Aviva stadium. The half-baked non-presence of the North Stand gives the whole hype surrounding it a feel of The Emperor's New Clothes. That is a debate for another day. But one thing I will say – it is DEFINITELY not “Lansdowne Road” or anything like it as I knew it in its heyday. So even without the argument of the extra revenue it brings, to go back to calling it LR doesn't really cut it for me anyway.
I also have to laugh at the lengths people go to when arguing against naming rights, ie picking the most ludicrous-sounding product imaginable and using it to prove their non-progressive argument. So no doubt there are those who would ask me if I'd be happy with the RDS being re-named “Granby's Sausages Park” or “Wibbly Wobbly Wonder Field”.
Yes, ha-ha, very funny. And of course rugby already has some doozys when it comes to sponsorship, like the new “RaboDirect Pro12” and my personal favourite, the “JP Morgan Asset Management Premier Rugby Sevens Series”, which HAD to be the result of a bet.
But I say, when you accept professionalism, you also accept the need for corporate donations. And we have to remember that rugby has a long, long way to go before it can go from beggar to chooser when it comes to sponsor-seeking.
So my overall point is....do we REALLY need to get our knickers in a knot over what we – in actual fact not even we – the media – calls our stadia? I say let the corporate hacks do their thing. I still consider myself free to choose my own brand of insurance. Unless you're suggesting the money offered for the naming rights is going somewhere other than towards the general development of the sports played in the stadium, then that would definitely be worth discussing and we can examine the proof.
Otherwise, I really don't see what all the fuss is about. Thank you. JLP
Disagree? Why not leave a comment or better still, find out how to get a rant published here yourself, all opinions welcome.
