Florida Atlantic Football Stadium Will Be Named For Private Prison Company

[unhappycamper]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/florida-atlantic-football-stadium_n_2720223.html



A university rendering of the newly christened GEO Group Stadium at Florida Atlantic University.

Florida Atlantic Football Stadium Will Be Named For Private Prison Company
Chris Kirkham
Posted: 02/19/2013 8:28 pm EST | Updated: 02/19/2013 10:49 pm EST

For more than two years, Florida Atlantic University has been searching for the name of a corporate sponsor to adorn its new 30,000-seat, palm-ringed football stadium.

The public university on Tuesday announced an unconventional partner: the nation's second-largest operator of for-profit prisons, the GEO Group Inc. The newly christened GEO Group Stadium came as part of a $6 million donation from the prison company's charitable foundation, which will be paid out to Florida Atlantic over 12 years.

America has a long tradition of unusual corporate athletic sponsorships -- Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena and Houston's Enron Field (now Minute Maid Park) come to mind. But the GEO Group Stadium puzzled several experienced sports marketing experts.

~snip~

Critics of the private prison industry said the donation to a public university in Florida falls in line with efforts to gain influence with state and local public officials who decide whether to hand out contracts.

[Berlum]

1. They plan to call their team The Homelanders (R) and dress them in stripes

[aikoaiko]

2. More appropriate for the Florida State Seminoles

Aka the Criminoles.


Edited to add: Go Dawgs!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. I miss the days where stadiums were named after the city or the team.

Or maybe a local dignitary.

I hate the idea of corporate sponsorships of stadiums. Yes, I know it can help defray the costs of stadiums built on the public dime, but I can't stand the idea that people when referring to the stadium have almost no choice but to be a walking commercial for some company, and are not even compensated to do so.

That's why the current home of the Miami Dolphins (and former home of the Florida Marlins) will always be Joe Robbie Stadium to me. Not one of its five corporate names that it's had over its history.