For anyone headed to the A-League grand final on Saturday night, here’s a warning: stick around too long after the final whistle and the stadium you leave may carry a completely different name to the one you arrived at.
As of Sunday, Telstra Dome will become Etihad Stadium. This comes just over six years after Colonial Stadium became Telstra Dome. Which itself came less than three years after the stadium opened.
Which is a scary thought, really.
Three different names in the space of a decade is hardly a decent track record. And it seems with each name change, opposition to the concept builds.
Throughout the decade, quite a number of organizations have rebelled against the venue’s ridiculous name game. The ABC, for example, has referred to the ground as “Docklands Stadium” since its opening.
More recently, AFL clubs with major sponsors that rival Telstra have been known to refer to the ground as simply “the Dome.”
But this latest change has managed to irk a much larger stakeholder – the AFL itself. The league refuses to recognize the Etihad deal.
The official line is that the AFL wants to protect its own sponsor, Qantas. Yet the league’s biggest club, Collingwood, is sponsored by Emirates.
Figure that one out.
For a more accurate reasoning behind the league’s steadfast opposition, one must look no further than the legal stoush between the AFL and stadium management.
The two are headed for the Supreme Court over a range of issues – naming rights being just one of them – with the AFL primarily seeking better venue deals for its clubs.
Current arrangements make it hard for Melbourne-based clubs to compete with others that have far more friendly deals.
“From our perspective, we will call it Telstra Dome or Docklands Stadium until this issue is resolved,” chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan told the Herald Sun this week.
“We would be very keen to reach an agreement but the ball is in their court.”
The official 2009 fixture refers to the ground as Telstra Dome. The League also reportedly sent a memo out to its clubs urging them to not acknowledge the Etihad moniker.
Given the fear over the viability of clubs like the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne – both Dome tenants – the AFL is right to push the issue. By not recognizing the Etihad deal, they will be rocking an already-shaky boat. Because as it is, with parties divided over the name change, fans would be forgiven for not knowing what to call the venue in 2009.
The sign out the front will say Etihad. The AFL will say Telstra. Certain clubs will call it “the Dome.” Other factions will stick to “Docklands.”
Right now, there is no clear frontrunner for what supporters will call the place from Sunday onwards.
It’s one thing for organizations such as the ABC or the AFL to rebel against naming rights, but will the wider public join in, too?
Sheer confusion may be enough to force their hands.
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