courtesy of ConsipiracyofHappiness/flickr
The Jake…er…The Prog…er…Progressive Field.
Make sure to answer the new poll, which, coincidentally, is about the new name of Jacobs Field. For those that are wondering about the old poll, 58% thought that Jorge Julio deserved the last spot in the bullpen, followed by Tom Mastny’s 31% and Scott Elarton rounding out the three at 12%. Happy VOTING!!!
It started off as a pipedream, having a new baseball stadium in Cleveland. I don’t think there was an Indians fan who was around from the 50’s through the 80’s that thought Cleveland would ever have a new stadium for it’s 2nd division team. Hell, there were times when rumors were rampant that the Indians wouldn’t even be playing in the old stadium, and going to a new city (New Orleans anyone?), until the Jacobs brothers purchased the team in 1986.
The Jacobs brothers immediately pushed for a new baseball stadium, which would be a tough sell with the Cleveland Browns also sniffing at a new stadium as well. Unbelievably, however, voters passed a tax on cigarettes in 1990 that would fund a new stadium complex, and the Gateway project was born. It would be a Gateway to a new Cleveland that would initially include a baseball stadium that would expand to a football stadium, and a basketball arena. This downtown Gateway project, would be used to help revitalize the southern edge of downtown Cleveland, and in turn, become the key to a brand new view of Cleveland.
The Gateway project turned into the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex. Out of that complex grew the baseball field that many fans believed would realistically be built around the same time pigs would fly. Dick Jacobs also pushed hard for the ballpark to be strictly used for baseball, which ultimately became a reality. Jacobs then purchased the naming rights for 10 million dollars and Jacobs Field was born.
Since 1994, THE JAKE, as the ballpark has been affectionately called from the start, has been a gem in the crown of a new wave of Major League Baseball stadiums. When it opened, it was modeled after Camden Yards, the retro-park that opened in 1992 and was hailed as the best ballfield in baseball. Ironically, it was modeled after the new retro ballpark built in Buffalo for their AAA club. There were several improvements made at “The Jake,” based on mistakes found at Camden Yards, including the seats that are angled towards home plate, which was one of many.
One of the best additions over the years has been Heritage Park, which honors the greatest Indians to ever play the game, and is located behind the center field wall.
Over the past 14 years, Jacobs Field was consistently ranked in the top 3 or 4 stadiums in baseball. In this recent Men’s Fitness article, it was ranked as one of the 10 best ballparks in the game today, along with the likes of the aforementioned Camden Yards, Fenway, Wrigley and several other HOK built retro parks that have come since (I highly recommend PNC Park in Pittsburgh…it’s a great place to see a game for all you baseball fans).
This year, Progressive Corporation, an insurance company, purchased the naming rights for ‘The Jake’ to the tune of 58 million dollars over the next 16 years. Jacobs Field is now Progressive Field.
I mentioned to my five-year-old, perhaps a bigger Indians fan than I and wearing a Jacobs Field shirt, that the Indians call their stadium Progressive Field, instead of Jacobs Field. When he asked why, I let him know that the folks at Progressive were paying a whole bunch of money. As most parents and teachers can tell you, kids have way more insight than most adults, and my son was no different.
He first made me spell P-R-O-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E out for him, which left me wondering why, as he quickly moved to an interesting observation, as kids often do. “Daddy, since they have more money, does that mean they can make the stadium more shiny?”
When I replied that “yeah, they probably could use some of that money to make the stadium look shiny.” He pondered for a second and followed up with, “Well, I could help paint it. I’d do it for free so they could save some money.” I couldn’t help but chuckle, wondering how many fans would also agree to do it on weekends…or at the very least…hire out their kids.
I then told my son that we weren’t supposed to call it ‘The Jake’ anymore, but simply, ‘The Prog.’ Well, after a confused look, my son started ribbeting like a FROG, and began moving his finger over the first three letters of Progressive, which was a sign to me that he was using what his Kindergarten teacher taught him to read. “Why don’t they just call it ‘The Pro?’
Hmmm, a five year old making more sense than adults.
How Progressive.
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6 Responses to “The Jake…er…The Prog…er…Progressive Field.”
April 4th, 2008 at 3:43 am
James, to answer your son’s question, Progressive felt it wasn’t a great idea to nickname the stadium “The Pro”, because the Florida Marlins’ home field (from 1996 to 2005) was known as “Pro Player Stadium”. It was named after Pro Player apparel (a subsidiary of Fruit of the Loom), if you’re wondering. The stadium is now called “Dolphin Stadium”, so it is open, but would you pick a name so recently associated with a notoriously cheapjack operation?
It’s not called “Progressive Park” because there is a place with that name in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and they were not at all interested in giving up rights to it.
I know I’m in the minority, but I couldn’t be more thrilled about the new name.
I am violently opposed to the notion that cities should spend hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds to build stadiums for businesses owned by millionaires– and then lease them at rates that can’t possibly recoup the cost of construction. The team gets to keep the ticket money, the parking revenue, the concessions and souvenirs, while the taxpayers foot the bill for operating revenue, maintenance and improvements.
Usually the land is tax-abated, meaning the city or county doesn’t even get property tax income. Since that money (in this region) goes to the schools, your five-year-old is getting a substandard education to make life easier for Larry Dolan (that is, if you live in Cleveland),
Best of all, after ten years, teams begins grumbling that the stadium is out of date, and that they need major renovations (or a new facility) in order to “stay competitive.” Frequently, the construction bonds haven’t even been retired when that talk starts.
The one opportunity a stadium authority has to recoup some of their costs is naming rights– and Dick Jacobs wouldn’t let them do it.
When I asked some questions about this topic in the 90’s, I got told, off the record, that the Jacobs and Gunds insisted on getting the naming rights for a token fee. If Gateway wanted to auction the name, that was fine. But then the teams would require additional concessions in the amount of whatever revenues Gateway received.
That’s hearsay, but the following things are not.
1. The combined dollar value for the naming rights in the four US pro leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL) is $3.551 billion dollars. The average deal generates $54.6 million for a 19-year deal– about $2.9 million a year.
2. The fees collected for both Gateway buildings totaled $27.9 million– $13.9 million for the stadium and $14 million for the arena..
3. Both deals were the worst contracts in their respective leagues.
4. Both deals were almost unique in another respect– they put the team owners’ names on the building.
5. When asked for a public comment, Gateway officials insisted that the owners were the only bidders– that no other parties made an offer, because they didn’t feel naming rights were valuable. When asked to identify the names of the parties they allegedly contacted (so they could be asked if they were asked), Gateway refused.
6. It is highly unlikely that the preceding statement is true, because four local companies owned naming rights to other facilities at the time.
* The Sacramento Kings were playing in “The ARCO Arena”; named after the Atlantic-Richfield oil company. ARCO was a subsidiary of BP.
* The Seattle Supersonics played in a building known as the “Key Center”– named after a certain local bank.
* The home of the San Antonio Spurs– “The SBC Center”– is named after the company that ate Ameritech.
* The New Jersey Nets play in the “Continental Airlines Arena”
Are we to believe that those companies felt that naming rights to a basketball arena at the borders of the country were nifty propositions– but that a baseball stadium in the midwest was a bad one?
(It’s also not true that companies only buy one set of right, either. There have been a couple of businesses who owned rights in different markets for a time.)
There were plenty of plausible alternatives. Cleveland had two companies with big ad budgets in highly-competitive industries– Progressive and Sherwin-Williams. Until they merged and left town, TRW and OfficeMax would have been possibilities. Parker-Hannafin might have been an option. Cleveland has two banks (National City and Charter One) that don’t have their name on arenas, two hospital chains (Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals) fighting to improve their name recognition and several utilities.
And it’s highly likely that one of the self-promoting CEOs who pursued the Browns’ franchise might have been interested. (Al Lerner did buy naming rights to the Browns’ new stadium.)
Had Gateway explored every option– aggressively pursuing deals– it’s difficult to believe that they couldn’t have gotten better deals. (They literally could not have done any worse.) It’s strong circumstantial evidence to support the story I was hearing– the owners wanted their names on the building.
And they absolutely didn’t deserve it– it would be hard to find owners who have done less for the region. Both the Gunds and Jacobs bought distressed pro sports franchises for very little ($20 million for the Cavs; $35 million for the Indians) and then blackmailed the region into building new arenas using public money. Their shiny new building helped both owners make $300 million when they sold their clubs.
So color me thrilled to see Gateway getting some income– and expunging the name of a corporate thug from a building that I helped build. If people believe it ought to be called “Jacobs Field”, then come back to me when you can give me $58 big ones.
April 4th, 2008 at 9:21 am
I’d call it “Sac Bunt Stadium” after my favorite play.
When is Pronk going to start laying them down instead of grounding out weakly to second?
April 4th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
We had some half decent hits…the WS gloves just had the jump on the ball. It is still no excuse to not put numbers on the board though…
I’m still extremely shocked at how poorly the DT’s are doing…
April 5th, 2008 at 6:46 am
Geoff, I think you have an ax to grind. Call me a traditionalist. The cash from big corporations certainly help promote the interests of the company, but, to me, it symbolizes greed and wealth. I like to think that baseball is more about the little guy. . .
Ok, I’ll take my rose colored glasses off. Geoff, I agree with nearly every point you made. That sports teams can hold a city hostage by demanding new venues, or threaten to bolt from the town, is a tragedy. Seems there should be some way regions can hold their sports teams accountable. But what one region choses to snub its nose at, another is more than anxious to court. ’nuff said.
James, score one for the little guy. Your article was great.
April 5th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Thanks Chris…
For the record, I don’t have a beef with Progressive buying the naming rights, but it will be a cold day in hell before I start calling it ‘The Prog.’
It has nothing to do with what’s right and what’s wrong, just what sounds like what happens after you ate too much Chili…
On a sidenote…my wife was wondering what “The Prog” had to do with the Chech Republic?
I could get into a debate with you about the Jacobs and the Gunds for that matter…but won’t…not now…
Perhaps we’ll stroll down that road in a few weeks…
April 5th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Chris, I wish we were back in the days when we didn’t have to talk talk finance– when owners felt it was there responsibility to build a home. But, thanks to Walter O’Malley (the first guy to get free land with no taxes), those days are gone. .
I might point out that Al Lerner paid a little above market rate for the Browns’ naming rights– and then decided not to put his business (MBNA) on the building,
Personally, I think naming rights are dumb– there are so many mergers and business failures that the names keep rotating and eventually people just stop using them.
And, James, I’d just call it “Gateway”. That is what the name of the complex still is.
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