The team also has an official bank, soft drink, airline, and hot dog. And that s small potatoes. The deals are as lucrative for advertisers as they are for owners. Since taking over Joe Robie Stadium in Miami, Pro Player sports apparel has seen its name recognition jump from three percent to almost 40. After affixing its name to the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, Tostitos sold ten million more bags of tortilla chips a 40 percent increase.
Traditionalists bristle at the idea.
Yes, there s something unseemly about auctioning national treasures, or at least their names, to the highest bidder. That is less gaudy, though, than expecting taxpayers to pick up the tab. Better that government be tacky than onerous. Take the road signs, the itineraries, the baggage tags, and that s a lot of impressions the sales of which could make trips more affordable for everyone by offsetting landing fees. Likewise, advertisers would no doubt pay handsomely for the name, repeated every six minutes in radio traffic reports, of California s heavily traveled 405 Freeway.