BRANDING

Branding

Branding

All across North America, sports are being treated like cattle. It is very hard to think of a sports team or event that hasn't been branded by some major corporation. Facilities, events, teams and players are all used by corporations to get their name out there and market themselves to the public. Think about it, the Eagles new stadium isn't even in use yet, but they already have a corporate sponsor that has naming right on the stadium, Lincoln Financial Field. Branding goes even deeper than that. Every aspect of sport has some connection to corporate business world. All the signs and ads you see around a stadium or on a jersey show you that the team has a connection to the corporation presenting itself. Whether, they are just promoting the product. And better yet, if they actually use the product.

Branding, as defined in Webster's dictionary, is an identifying mark or label on products, and also is a mark that shows ownership. With relation to sports, branding doesn't always show ownership, however it does show sponsorship. The affect of branding on sports can be seen just about anywhere or anytime. For example, just about every stadium in North America has some corporate sponsor associated with it. Along with the Eagles, there's the Trans World Dome (St. Louis Rams), Qualcomm Stadium (San Diego Chargers), Gillette Stadium (New England Patriots) in the NFL. In the MLB, there's Pacific Bell Park (San Francisco Giants), Edison International Field (Anaheim Angels), Coors Field (Colorado Rockies), and Minute Maid Stadium (Houston Astros). In the NBA, there's the Delta Center (Utah Jazz), Air Canada Centre (Toronto Raptors), ARCO Arena (Sacramento Kings), and Fleet Center (Boston Celtics). And in the NHL, there's Molson Centre (Montreal Canadians), Continental Airlines (New Jersey Devils), the First Union Center (Philadelphia Flyers), and America West Arena (Phoenix Coyotes). As you can see corporations have a high impact in sports and stadium names is just the beginning.

In a smaller scale, corporate business even affects all the things inside the stadium. Almost every aspect of sports teams and stadiums is sponsored by somebody. Inside a stadium you see nothing but advertisements for a variety of different products. Every aspect of the stadium, on its inside, has a sponsor or ad all its own. A certain facility may be sponsored by Pepsi, which means they only sell Pepsi products as drinks, or the may have a deal with Anheuser-Busch and sell only their alcohol products. Deals such as this can occur beyond teams and be the official brand drink of the league itself.

Branding exists in also in the names of events such as, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Die Hard 500, Craftsman Truck Series, McDonald's All-American Game, and the Lipton Championships. This short list shows some corporate names involved in sporting events. The reason corporations invest so much money in these events and sports stadiums is the advertising they get out of it. Every time the event or stadium comes up in conversation the name of the company ...