The Flyers’ and Sixers’ arena needs a new sponsor, with Wells Fargo retiring from the sponsoring–arenas–in–Philadelphia game. Does the arena need a sponsor? I doubt it. There are plenty of buildings that exist just fine without naming rights. Nobody named my townhouse! But the Flyers can make more money this way, and it’s not like the arena has a cool former name to which to revert, like Busch Stadium.
This is, of course, an opportunity. The problem with the Wells Fargo Center has long been that its name is too boring for Philadelphia. It’s not Philly enough. This is why The Process didn’t work out. If Markelle Fultz had played in the Wawa Center, Sam Hinkie would have his job back by now.
In addition to Wawa, there are plenty of options for an on-brand sponsor. The Rocky Statue. Independence Hall. Gritty himself. Wawa, though, does seem like the logical choice. These things only cost about five million dollars a year. Surely a company generating eleven figures in sales can find five million to rally the people of their city. (In addition to making the next Process work, there’s no way the Sixers move to a new arena if they’d have to leave the Wawa Center.)
Still, there’s a better possibility. Better even than Wawa.
If the point of naming rights is to make five million dollars a year, and if this particular arena can fit 21,500 standing, then all the Flyers would have to do is host twelve sessions of an all-you-can-eat cheesesteak festival at $20 admission to make their five mil. Twelve times a year, let 21,500 people pay you twenty dollars for cheesesteaks. How do you pay for the cheesesteaks? That’s where the naming rights come in. Tell the local cheesesteak spots to provide the cheesesteaks, and give every ticket one vote. Whichever cheesesteak gets the most votes gets the naming rights for the next season. Is that worth it for the cheesesteak restaurants? Depends how confident they are in their cheesesteaks. If they win, the prize is evidently worth a market value of five million dollars in advertising.
The city of Philadelphia deserves better than a joint hockey/basketball arena named the Aramark Center. The city of Philadelphia deserves an arena name that matches who they are. Who are they? If we know them well enough, they’re a city where 250,000 people will pay $20 apiece for all-you-can-eat cheesesteaks. (Or, more likely, where 20,834 people will do it twelve times.)
Etc.
- Canada’s women’s soccer team beat New Zealand in the aftermath of that spying scandal. Nice win for the Canadians after all the adversity they put themselves through.
- Rich Hill might be back in the majors soon, at the age of 44. Pete Abraham reported this morning that the Dodgers and Yankees are interested. Would Brock Holt join him, to complete the Dick Mountain ensemble? If it’s the Dodgers, we can only hope. Imagine those two back alongside Joe Kelly.
- The Heat signed Josh Christopher to a two-way deal last night, and I know they probably like the signing themselves, but I do wonder if there’s an element of, “Look, the guy was just the Summer League Championship Game MVP. We gotta give him something.” That’s how it would work in the movie. Or rather: In the movie they’d tell him before the game that if the Heat won, he’d get a two-way deal. Then, he’d have to decide halfway through whether to stay in the game or go stop the terrorist trying to blow up Las Vegas. He’d decide to stop the terrorist, but in a plot twist, the NBA would give him the MVP for that. Since, you know, he made sure everyone didn’t die. The bag—and, more importantly, safety—secured.
