Corporate sponsorships in sports are mostly annoying reminders of the pervasive greed in our favorite pastimes. However, sometimes those sponsorships can lead to some truly hilarious juxtapositions of business and sport. Greed can be good when it leads to things like the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, the Smoothie King Center, and now, the Little Caesars Arena.
Little Caesars Arena will be the new home of the Detroit Red Wings, a franchise chain owned by the Ilitch family. (The deal for arena naming rights is a 20-year, $120 million arrangement.) The Ilitch family also owns the Detroit Tigers, and not coincidentally, founded Little Caesars as well. In fact, Red Wings fans will only have to travel a few blocks from the new stadium to visit the pizza chain’s headquarters.
Chris Ilitch unveils name of Little Caesars Arena #freep pic.twitter.com/AxhoYynjS0
— John Gallagher (@JGallagher_Det) April 28, 2016
It's our job in the media to simplify the name of every new stadium. Comerica Park: The Copa. Suggestion for Little Caesars Arena? The Pie.
— Bob Wojnowski (@bobwojnowski) April 28, 2016
While the Red Wings and Little Caesars braintrusts (both under the same corporate umbrella, really) are undoubtedly happy that two Detroit institutions could combine like this (and already working on nicknames such as “The Slice,” “The Dish,” and “The Oven”), that excitement could not overcome the hot-n-ready snickers on social media.
Very excited about the @DetroitRedWings announcing that they will play at Little Caesars Arena. pic.twitter.com/KSS3Y6anu4
— jesse spector (@jessespector) April 28, 2016
In the Little Caesars Arena, there will be no urinals
Instead, they'll be called papa johns
— Winging It In Motown (@wingingitmotown) April 28, 2016
https://twitter.com/SilverSonnet/status/725714445360451585
Little Caesars Arena is quite the downgrade from the moniker for the Red Wings’ current home arena, Joe Louis Arena. And many local fans seem disappointed (though not surprised) that the Ilitch family took the easy route to corporate sponsorship. But at least Detroit will become that much easier to identify in aerial views of the city.
So they are putting the Little Caesars mascot on top of the Red Wings arena. pic.twitter.com/2LDRsFzqjA
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) April 28, 2016
With Joe Louis Arena going by the wayside, the NHL only has one holdout left in the arena sponsorship game: Madison Square Garden. You would hope an iconic arena like MSG would never fall prey to corporate greed. But with the current trends, it is not inconceivable we could be calling it the Pizza Hut Garden before long.
