Randy Smith
There is a new trend in college sports. Naming rights for stadiums and arenas has been around for a while, but with the rising costs of putting athletes on the field and the court, colleges are looking for new ways to raise money. Pilot Oil has saved the University of Tennessee from having to change the name of iconic Neyland Stadium and Shields-Watkins field with a 20-year contract that will preserve the names of the stadium in exchange for signage around the massive facility.
The stadium on the banks of the Tennessee river is named for legendary Coach Robert Neyland who served two different terms as the Vols head coach...winning 171 games while losing just 31 with 12 ties.
His 1951 squad won the national championship and in 1962 the University dedicated the 52,000 seat stadium to him. Since then, the stadium has undergone several renovations with seating now listed as more than 101,000. "We were never going to change the name," said athletic director Danny White. "So it was about how do we preserve the name and build a win-win partnership that allows us to reinvest in our fan experience."
Pilot Oil Stadium instead of Neyland Stadium just wouldn't be right, so thanks to Pilot Oil for stepping up. Naming stadiums has trickled down to smaller schools as Florida International has reached an agreement with Grammy winning artist Pitbull to name its 20,000 seat stadium. The need for all this extra money is based upon the recent legislation that calls for paying athletes and increasing scholarships. The billions of dollars coming in from television contracts is obviously not enough.
Not every school has a Pilot Oil to come to the rescue. Kentucky has an agreement with Kroger and Louisville's stadium is called L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium after being called Papa Johns Stadium for several years. Here locally, Finley Stadium is unnamed as far as a sponsorship is concerned but since UTC doesn't own Finley, they can't sell the naming rights. McKenzie Arena is named for the late Toby McKenzie and his then wife Brenda who generously donated two million dollars to help pay off the debt owed back in 2000.
Most current stadiums and arenas are named for legendary coaches or benefactors and like Neyland Stadium, it's hard to rename one after a group or a person who donated a lot of money. In Nebraska, the football stadium is called Memorial Stadium after the Nebraskans who were killed serving in the military. It's the same thing at Clemson and many other venues around the country. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing. I imagine it depends upon who writes the big check.
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Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com