Game of the Name: A Seattle Stadium Shift

Qwest Field by Rennett Stowe

Way back in 1954, the St. Louis Cardinals opened the season in the newly minted Busch Stadium. Anheuser-Busch, those lovable folks behind the piss water we know as Budweiser, had bought the naming rights to the stadium the previous year. And so, a new era of sports arenas named for corporations was born.

Sometimes, a corporate name change can cause some issues for fans. Like how in Chicago, many fans still refer to U.S. Cellular field as Comiskey. Even the particular corporation buying the rights can stir up controversy; the most recent example would be Citigroup shelling out big bucks for the New York Mets stadium--in spite of the huge bailout they took from the federal government. Other times, a stadium's name itself can cause derision, like the cases of First Union Center in Philadelphia (somehow fitting for Philly sports fans to have an FU Center), the Wankdorf Stadium in Switzerland and Kuntz Stadium in Indianapolis.

In Seattle, we've been pretty lucky with our stadium names. But there are rumors afloat that we might be in for a change. CenturyLink, a telecom company based in Monroe, Louisiana, is expected to complete a merger with local high-speed Internet provider Qwest early next month, which means that Qwest Field might soon become CenturyLink Stadium.

Of course, nothing is certain yet, but how would you feel about a name change for the home of the Seahawks and Sounders? Would you call it The Century, The Link, keep calling it Qwest Field out of habit, or something else all together?

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By Annie Durkin in Sports on March 25, 2011 12:00 PM

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Josh Huffines

Actually the story of how Sportsman's Park was renamed Busch Stadium is a bit more interesting than that. When the Cardinals (owned by Anheuser-Busch) bought the park from Bill Veeck, they intended to rename the park Budweiser Stadium. However, the Commissioner of Baseball, Ford Frick, would not allow that stating that it could be a public relations disaster. Augustus Busch, owner of the brewery and thus owner of the Cardinals, decided to name the stadium after himself - thus Busch Stadium. Busch Stadium was replaced by Busch Stadium II in 1966. When the Busch family sold the team to the current ownership group in 1996, the stadium retained its name. When the new Busch Stadium opened in 2006, Anheuser-Busch purchased the naming rights again, thus keeping alive the tradition of the name.