ONEKAMA, MICHIGAN It appears as though the University of Michigan will suspend a long-standing policy to keep major corporate sponsorship out of its arenas and stadiums. In a move that Madison Ave is calling brilliant, U of M has accepted an offer from automaker Daimler-Chrysler to change the name of its famed basketball arena from Crisler Arena to “Chrysler” Arena. It is estimated that the auto giant paid a one-time lump sum of $1.5 million. The name change will take effect before the 2007 basketball season.
Before making the move the Athletic Department conducted an extensive phone survey of distinguished alumni and donors, and flat out asked the question: “Should the basketball arena permanently be named Chrysler Arena?”. Overwhelmingly the response was affirmative, so the athletic department ran with it. Fan reaction has been mixed.
“I hope they use this money to fix that patch-work quilt of a roof on Crisler, umm, I mean Chrysler”, said Jan Mussman, a 22-year season ticket holder.
The AM sports talk radio station 1050AM WTKA is already using the new name in advertisements and emails, and the initial reaction has been pretty quiet. MVictors.com did find this mention of the new name in WTKA’s November 16 “TKA Ticker” email:
Given the success of this project, the school is currently negotiating with Ted Yost, owner of Yost’s Pump & Shop gas station located in Hale, Michigan, for the naming rights to its famed hockey arena.
3 Comments
joe chatel
i am in complete shock after reading this article. i never thought i would see the day when money became more important than tradition in the eyes of my meechigan. i am in 100% disagreement with this change and will start to try and reverse it.
Lewis
Michigan has a long tradition of selling out, so this should not shock any one. U of M does not care about it’s programs, or the community it is in. They like most big schools only care about the dollars. I would not have guessed that it would only take a million and a half bucks to change the name. Hey who would want to play basketball in an arena name after a football coach.
Jacob Msu all the way
U of M’s fight song says hail to the victors why the hell haven’t they won anything this year. They need to show some balls and win something important yea u of m is so sweet u wolverine fans yea right go blue…. u can try to cheer them on