Goodbye Miller Park

[cheebs09]

Another plus -  my guess is that Miller won't have brand exclusivity anymore, and perhaps they will have better beer choice at the stadium.

A little confused by this. There are plenty of local options in the stadium that are good.

[StillAWarrior]

I'm a bit of a contradiction here in Cleveland.  I usually still call the baseball stadium "Jacob's Field" even though it's been "Progressive Field" for a decade.  But, I do call the adjacent arena "the Q" (or less frequently "Quicken Loans Arena") and not the old name "Gund Arena."  Not sure why; it was never a conscious decision to prefer one name over the other.  Quite possibly it's because the old name for the arena sounded like a venereal disease.  Every now and then, I really confuse my kids by referring to the entire area as "Gateway" which is what the development was called before either of the facilities was named.

[JWags85]

Hell, even Willis Tower is catching on.

Really?  I still hear mostly "huh?" when people say Willis Tower, and its a sure sign they're a tourist.

I'm a bit of a contradiction here in Cleveland.  I usually still call the baseball stadium "Jacob's Field" even though it's been "Progressive Field" for a decade.  But, I do call the adjacent arena "the Q" (or less frequently "Quicken Loans Arena") and not the old name "Gund Arena."  Not sure why; it was never a conscious decision to prefer one name over the other.  Quite possibly it's because the old name for the arena sounded like a venereal disease.  Every now and then, I really confuse my kids by referring to the entire area as "Gateway" which is what the development was called before either of the facilities was named.

My friends all still say they are going to games at "the Jake".  And some of them have siblings who were 10-12 when the name changed that def don't call it Progressive.   The also don't call it FirstEnergy Stadium or whatever

[Chili]

Another plus -  my guess is that Miller won't have brand exclusivity anymore, and perhaps they will have better beer choice at the stadium.

Brand Exclusivity when it comes to beer or any alcohol (aka written pour rights) is against the law.

[Jockey]

Good news to me, especially if AmFam outbid Miller by a ton. Brewers get more money to spend, and names of stadiums don't matter.

Bravo!

[mu_hilltopper]

Man .. first the Klement's Racing Sausages get outbid .. now this steaming piece of crap.

Miller Park forever.

[StillAWarrior]

The also don't call it FirstEnergy Stadium or whatever

Well, I guess that shows what a waste of money it was for FirstEnergy to buy naming rights of the stadium.  I live here and had forgotten about that.  When it opened, they made a big deal about the fact that it was just "Cleveland Browns Stadium."  I honestly forgot that they actually sold the naming rights when Haslam bought the team.  I think it's pretty universally called "Browns Stadium" around here.

[Coleman]

Honestly, who cares. It is only a 18 year old stadium, with not much character or history anyway. Don't get me wrong, its a nice stadium for what it is, just like the two dozen other stadiums built in the past 20 years. But it is not like renaming Wrigley or Fenway or Lambeau for that matter.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Brand Exclusivity when it comes to beer or any alcohol (aka written pour rights) is against the law.

A-B (then as AB-Inbev) has learned that the hard way more than once!

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Honestly, who cares. It is only a 18 year old stadium, with not much character or history anyway. Don't get me wrong, its a nice stadium for what it is, just like the two dozen other stadiums built in the past 20 years. But it is not like renaming Wrigley or Fenway or Lambeau for that matter.

Wrigley is named after the chewing gun company, FWIW.

It was originally called Weeghman Park until those fat cat Wrigleys bought the joint.

[Cheeks]

Peeps still gonna call it Miller Park, doe, hey?

Yup.  Been involved in a number of these naming rights deals over the years on buying and selling side, and American Family would have to factor in that the locals for a number of years will not accept that, especially when a local brand like Miller is coming off.  I realize Miller isn't as "local" as the old days due to their ownership structure, but nevertheless this is interesting.

AT&T rights just came off of AT&T Park.  Los Angeles new football stadium has been trying to sell naming rights for the last 3 years, no takers....with the Rams now going to the Super Bowl (*) maybe that changes.

[Coleman]

Wrigley is named after the chewing gun company, FWIW.

It was originally called Weeghman Park until those fat cat Wrigleys bought the joint.

I'm aware. But its been named that for over 90 years.

[BrewCity83]

The Stadium Formerly Known As Miller Park.

[wadesworld]

American Family Insurance isn't looking to have the eyeballs of the 42,000 fans walking into the stadium.  They're trying to get the ears of the millions of fans tuning in to the NLCS coming to you from AmFam Field.  And the broadcasters of that will not be calling it Miller Park.

[rocket surgeon]

  so, anyone running out to get themselves some of that american family stuff?  i dumped them a few years ago when i finally thought for all those premiums i've been paying are going to be worth it.  NOPE!  water damage on the house didn't occur on the 5th saturday with a blood moon-sorry.  what a steaming pile of horse hockey 

[Cheeks]

I am blown away at how little they paid, if the reports are accurate.  $2.1M per year?  That's a rounding error in monthly budget for some of these companies, for some it's a rounding error for a DAILY budget.

This cannot be right, is it?  Why would Miller not want to keep it for such a paltry sum?

Most of the ones I've seen are $8M to $10M per year.  I've seen some insane ones at $35M to $45M per year, as well....those usually don't sell.  In fact the largest one I'm aware of is about $32M per year, but teams / venues true for more.

$2M per year for a baseball team (meaning 81 dates) feels like a bargain.  The new Giants deal where AT&T is coming off and Oracle goes up is about $16M per year to give you an idea.  Head scratcher.

[Cheeks]

Brand Exclusivity when it comes to beer or any alcohol (aka written pour rights) is against the law.

Correct you are, at least in the states that I've done these sorts of the things.  There may be some exceptions somewhere, but when I worked for the Angels and got Miller to come on board as a sponsor, that was one of the big sticking points.  It's a reason why many alcoholic brands won't do those deals because they can't drive product to offset the costs in the venue.  That said, Miller = Milwaukee in the minds of many people.  Same for Coors = Denver (Rockies). 

[4everwarriors]

I am blown away at how little they paid, if the reports are accurate.  $2.1M per year?  That's a rounding error in monthly budget for some of these companies, for some it's a rounding error for a DAILY budget.

This cannot be right, is it?  Why would Miller not want to keep it for such a paltry sum?

Most of the ones I've seen are $8M to $10M per year.  I've seen some insane ones at $35M to $45M per year, as well....those usually don't sell.  In fact the largest one I'm aware of is about $32M per year, but teams / venues true for more.

$2M per year for a baseball team (meaning 81 dates) feels like a bargain.  The new Giants deal where AT&T is coming off and Oracle goes up is about $16M per year to give you an idea.  Head scratcher.

Pretty sure the $2.1 figure represents what Miller was paying. Don't think AmFam's commitment has been divulged.

[BrewCity83]

Correct.  Miller said that AmFam approached the Brewers with a figure substantially higher than Miller's expiring annual cost, and Miller was not interested in going that high to renew.

[theBabyDavid]

though I'm USAA for life

Good man

[Spotcheck Billy]

So no more Badger Mutual Insurance runs then?

[ZiggysFryBoy]

So no more Badger Mutual Insurance runs then?

The Crew had 4 or 5 insurers sponsoring different stuff now. 

[Chili]

The Crew had 4 or 5 insurers sponsoring different stuff now.

Also the radio & tv broadcasts has different sponsors than the team does. Usinger has been (I think still is) the radio partner. Call always hear Ueck calling it.

[StillAWarrior]

I'm USAA for life.

Ditto.  USAA Auto since I purchased my first car.  USAA Home since I purchased my first house.  Numerous other products and services as well.  In three decades, I honestly don't recall a single negative experience with them.  I've heard so many horror stories about insurance, but I have none.  For the first ten years or so I occasionally price-shopped competitors, but eventually I learned not to bother.  On more than one occasion, when I told a broker that I had USAA, they just said, "never mind."

Good man

Thankfully, my father was a "good man" and served his country.  His service made me eligible to deal with USAA, and his insistence that I do so has been invaluable.

[dgies9156]

I'm in the group that probably won't ever call it anything but Miller Park.

I still call it County Stadium -- or County II.