Are you angry over the name change?

[Tskware]

If you are referring to the $1M+ a year that Kroger is paying for the naming rights, that is a deal between Kroger and JMI (UK media partner). UK and JMI came to a new agreement several years ago, which had Commonwealth naming rights in the agreement, worth $210M over 15 years and came with a $29M signing bonus. This money helped pay for many things, including the new football training facility.

I don't know how much UK higher-ups valued the name "Commonwealth", but if giving up that name was part of what got us the money to build that new, state-of-the-art training facility for the football team, I think it's well worth it in terms of football recruiting and performance.

People will complain (people always complain), but in a year or two this practice will be far more common and we will all know Kroger Field as "the K" or some other nickname or just call it Commonwealth. And I bet I barely notice the Kroger logo's on the field by the third home game of the year (yes, I'll be at all of them).

OK, one more comment and then I will drop it.

If the agreement with JMI gave them the unfettered right to make UK do anything they asked, then yes, it was a bad deal. If it provides they can change the school mascot, the school colors, the fight song, and make us play half our games at midnight on Wednesday, then yes, it was a really bad deal. Money should not drive every decision, especially in college athletics. But surely we have some reasonable veto power, and if UK does, then they should not have changed the name of Commonwealth Stadium.

P.S. to Robo222, no, the Board of Trustees has never nay said a single decision laid on their table in my memory. Joseph Stalin got more push back from the Politburo than the AD gets at UK.

 

[sefus12]

OK, one more comment and then I will drop it.

If the agreement with JMI gave them the unfettered right to make UK do anything they asked, then yes, it was a bad deal. If it provides they can change the school mascot, the school colors, the fight song, and make us play half our games at midnight on Wednesday, then yes, it was a really bad deal. Money should not drive every decision, especially in college athletics. But surely we have some reasonable veto power, and if UK does, then they should not have changed the name of Commonwealth Stadium.

P.S. to Robo222, no, the Board of Trustees has never nay said a single decision laid on their table in my memory. Joseph Stalin got more push back from the Politburo than the AD gets at UK.

I have no idea what went on with the negotiations, but I don't find it too unreasonable for UK to give JMI full naming rights in exchange for a certain amount of money. Happens with all pro sports and it's becoming a trend, one I think will become very common, in college athletics. Do I like the name Commonwealth? Absolutely. I have a hand-drawn picture of Commonwealth stadium on the wall of my office. Would I trade that name for Kroger Field if it meant UK football gets a shiny new training facility that can compete with anyone's (with the help of outside donors as well)? Yep, I would. Just because the sign says "Kroger Field", I'll always refer to it as Commonwealth. I do the same with the Sears Tower in Chicago.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

With ESPN having their financial issues and when it comes time for the next contract signing I am not so sure it will be as good as the present contract. Universities have gotten use to those big payouts, maybe even depending on it. With the loss of some of it, the cash has to be made up somewhere, UK may be ahead of the pack here and after next TV contract with ESPN all schools may be looking for corporate sponsorship.. Kroger sponsors the UGA page in the Atlanta paper, so it seems they are pro athletics.

 

[RacerDT]

As Murray State alumni, our Basketball arena was sold to a regional bank corporation. "The CFSB Center" it is a mouthful. However, quickly the fan base, along with the students have now called it "The Bank" which isn't too bad.

Now if we could rally behind Kroger Field, and turn it into something witty, yet powerful, and call it that, we might have something.

Possibly: "The Shop"

 

[sluggercatfan]

We should have negotiated a better deal......they can sell the naming rights to anyone they want, but Commonwealth Stadium has to stay in the name, simple - JMI wouldn't have balked.

"Kroger presents Commonwealth Stadium" or "Kroger Field at Commonwealth Stadium (and get rid of the CM Newton) would have been fine.

Will always be on the warpath about the cm thing...Kroger Commonwealth Stadium should have been the name with Bear Bryant, Jerry Claiborne or Rich Brooks Grounds being the field name. There is far too much good old boy stuff in these kind of things!

 

[sluggercatfan]

Take Newton off. Don't add Claiborne. I don't think UK has had a football coach worthy of naming a stadium after.

Bryant, Claiborne and Brooks are all worthy of having their names on the field instead of a bb player who was AD and did nothing to improve fb at UK, as a matter of fact I think he failed miserably with it.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

As Murray State alumni, our Basketball arena was sold to a regional bank corporation. "The CFSB Center" it is a mouthful. However, quickly the fan base, along with the students have now called it "The Bank" which isn't too bad.

Now if we could rally behind Kroger Field, and turn it into something witty, yet powerful, and call it that, we might have something.

Possibly: "The Shop"

WIth that in mind, here's hoping ours is bought out by Smithfields and we can call it "The Slaughter House". I can't say I am looking forward to corporate college football, but I believe the next TV contract will be less than the current one and quite a few schools will follow UK's lead with this to soften the loss of TV revenue.

 

[WilsonPiCAT]

Kroger negotiated the rights with JMI. UK sold the naming rights to JMI three years ago as part of the massive media deal they struck.

I know that, but there's no reason to align our program's brand with a run-of-the-mill grocery chain. No gain here at all.

 

[BIGBLUEQ]

I say we call it "The Commissary". Years ago that is what most local grocery stores were called, especially in the South. They were grocers, carried dry goods, livestock feed, sometimes equipment, they were a one stop shop.

 

[sefus12]

I know that, but there's no reason to align our program's brand with a run-of-the-mill grocery chain. No gain here at all.

Outside of it being part of a $210M contract, which is a lot of money for any university. It may be a trend people don't like, but more and more schools will sell naming rights to their football stadiums. UK took advantage of a non-traditional revenue stream to generate money. I'd much rather they do this than raise my ticket prices/K fund donations several hundred dollars a ticket.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Bryant, Claiborne and Brooks are all worthy of having their names on the field instead of a bb player who was AD and did nothing to improve fb at UK, as a matter of fact I think he failed miserably with it.

And over my name and my wife's name. I get that. But none of those guys is recognized for what they did at UK by anyone but UK fans. The coach that gets us noticed in a big way nationally should be rewarded.

Of that list, Brooks is the closest, but I don't think you name a facility after him.

 

[vhcat70]

Kroger is 17th on the Fortune 500 list. They are basically everywhere except the Northeast and part of the upper Mid-west.

Don't see HI either.

 

[DSmith21]

Don't see HI either.

They are working on it.

"Supermarket giant The Kroger Co., which nearly acquired Safeway a year ago, may be eyeing Hawaii for its first location in the Islands. The Cincinnati-based company, which is the largest supermarket chain in the U.S. and the second-largest general retailer in the nation behind only Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT), registered as a new business in Hawaii in early February, according to public records..."

http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/...ket-giant-kroger-eyeing-hawaii-for-first.html

 

[seccats04]

Yes I am pissed. Kroger Field just sounds so lame and makes us even more of a laughingstock. Quick, somebody needs to say that they are offended and this is somehow sexist so they will hopefully change the name.

 

[zcats]

I'm mad. I hope they name the frigging science building "The UK Football Bled Dry Science Hall".

 

[The-Hack]

Say what you want about Barney (as though everyone hasn't for years) he has UK playing with the money, chalk and marbles that make these programs work . . . .

Gone are the days of UK showing up at an SEC gun fight with a pop gun.

If (IF) UK goes 8-4 or better next year, the name of the stadium will be meaningless, and the money will still be in the bank, and not coming from your hip pockets for parking passes and tickets.

 

[Kybluedude]

Do we want to put Bear Bryant's name on our field and share it with Alabama' stadium where he won titles? Huh?

 

[BIGBLUE402]

Kroger is 17th on the Fortune 500 list. They are basically everywhere except the Northeast and part of the upper Mid-west.

http://beta.fortune.com/fortune500/list

Oklahoma just be hating on Kroger

 

[Littlefeller]

IMHO the tunnel where the players enter the field could be called the Express Lane!

I really like the fact that the map shows California and Texas as 2 of the states with the most stores-great hotbeds for recruits/recruiting. Fans-parents-recruits may not(hopefully) view this as a negative thing but rather a positive thing-especially if Kroger will market our sports gear and we can pull recruits from those two states.

 

[OFortuna]

What's in a name? Well, if you're naming your kid, that can be a big deal. Corporations spend millions trying to come up with the "right" name for their products so we'll want to buy them. Hell, even message boarders give some thought to what they want to be called; haven't seen many selecting things like "Little Wiener" or "Cuckolded Cat." So yeah, names mean something, as opposed to being "Anonymous," which is essentially what selling our name makes us feel like. Is it the end of the world? No. Will it affect how we play football? Probably not. Are we $$$ richer because of it? Yup. Will it help bind us to the place and the memories? Nah. The name is now irrelevant. Who knows, maybe down the road they'll sell it to somebody else. We'll have to come up with our own acronym or nickname to personalize the place, make it ours in spite of the "rights" of some faceless corporation. So tell What'shisname we're gonna be fine with it, after while, and we'll keep cheering for those guys in blue and white too..... It is still blue and white, isn't it?

 

[MrHotDice]

Personally I don't care what the field is called as long as UK mostly plays good football in it.

Why not Makers Mark Stadium. Or Pigley wiggle

 

[Poetax]

The UKAA already generates $120M a year. Will $121.5M a year get us to the SEC championship game in Atlanta?

I could care less about the name but where was all that money when Brooks was here? I say almost 2 million in hand is better then two commonwealths in the bush.

 

[Poetax]

Bryant, Claiborne and Brooks are all worthy of having their names on the field instead of a bb player who was AD and did nothing to improve fb at UK, as a matter of fact I think he failed miserably with it.

The Bear yes, but let's reserve it for the Coach who consistently keep our WL record over .500 during his duration here.

 

[pickled cat]

Personally I don't care what the field is called as long as UK mostly plays good football in it.

I agree with you brother, a name is just a name. It's up to our players and coaches to make it respectable.

 

[pickled cat]

Got too many things on my plate these days to get "mad"

That being said, "Kroger Field" is uber lame, makes us look like a laughingstock in the SEC. Do you think UT would ever rename Neyland Stadium, or Alabama rename Bryant-Denny Stadium?

Besides, UKAA just gets a butt load of money every year from the SEC Network . . . do we really need the money that bad???

Given Ky football history, I'd say we needed a change.

 

[CatGotMyTongue]

Do we want to put Bear Bryant's name on our field and share it with Alabama' stadium where he won titles? Huh?

It's not like he stopped for ten minutes in Lexington before boarding a plane for College Station. Bryant was successful here. 1946-1953. He won games. Glad for Alabama, but he was here. Yes

 

[clawsowitz]

(Freddy) KRUEGER FIELD

 

[dckala2]

I still call the "Willis" tower sears and I still call "guranteed rate field" comiskey.

Will still call it commonwealth.

 

[CatGotMyTongue]

"His mama called him 'Commonwealth ', I'm a gonna call him 'Commonwealth'"

 

[billue]

yes I think it should stay Commonwealth

 

[sambowieshin]

Kroger Commonwealth Stadium would not be a terrible name if the deal must be done. CM Newton shouldn't have his name within a 100 miles of the field.

 

[bigbluedon]

Get rid of Newton's name...I would say it a million times if I thought it would get results. He is a traitor..Worthless moron.

 

[Bayhunter]

Don't care what they call it....I'm sure they can use the money.

 

[Cefiro]

I don't really care.....I think it's just a matter of time before most schools follow suit.

 

[sluggercatfan]

And over my name and my wife's name. I get that. But none of those guys is recognized for what they did at UK by anyone but UK fans. The coach that gets us noticed in a big way nationally should be rewarded.

Of that list, Brooks is the closest, but I don't think you name a facility after him.

Like I said earlier...Kroger Commonwealth Stadium would be fine with me. I just want the cm newton off the naming of the field and RB would've worked fine for me as would have Claiborne or Bryant.

 

[sluggercatfan]

Kroger Commonwealth Stadium would not be a terrible name if the deal must be done. CM Newton shouldn't have his name within a 100 miles of the field.

Sam and BBDon I agree with you both!

 

[mtn cat1]

Yes, I'm pissed. Make that damned pissed. I'm pissed Newton's name is still associated with the facility and Jerry Claiborne's isn't.

Triple "LIKE"!

 

[mtn cat1]

Bryant, Claiborne and Brooks are all worthy of having their names on the field instead of a bb player who was AD and did nothing to improve fb at UK, as a matter of fact I think he failed miserably with it.

Obvious you're like me, "not a good ol boy"!

 

[The-Hack]

The UKAA already generates $120M a year. Will $121.5M a year get us to the SEC championship game in Atlanta?

Tskware, I think the point has been made by others, perhaps in other threads, but any quotation of the money generated by UKAA from the last three years, or so, INCLUDES the money generated by this deal.

In short, whether we "need" the money or not is somewhat of a subjective question. The fact that our programs compete in the ultimate conference for virtually every sport is not subjective . . . . it is objective reality, and the reality is simply that money and profits are used for every aspect of competitive activity, from recruiting to facilities, to coaches salaries.

Russian blood, British guts and American money won World War II. I'm pretty certain that absent American money, Russian blood and British guts would not have been enough.

Deep within, I would prefer we did not have to have corporate sponsors, but I have been to almost all SEC campuses for sporting events. We have to fight against the most powerful and well funded programs in the nation, who have facilities that make some NFL teams look paltry.

 

[ANewEra]

I'm more upset about the Kroger emblem being on the field than I am about the name change