Naming stadium is driving ambition

I think I'll catch a ballgame next week.

While I'm at it, I might even buy a car.

They go hand-in-hand, don't they?

Utah Valley State College announced last week that it had reached an agreement with auto dealer Brent Brown to name its baseball stadium after none other than Brent Brown himself.

If what I just said sounds redundant, that's the point. Nothing works like repetition when selling cars. And when financing athletic teams, nothing works better than money. The kind of money a prospering car dealership can provide.

So it's a match made in win/win heaven.

"The demographics for sports fans buying certain types of cars is there. There's a connection," said John Garff, COO of Ken Garff Automotive Group.

Admittedly, Brent Brown Ballpark (there's that name again) doesn't have the same ring as Notre Dame Stadium or Madison Square Garden, but hey, those are relics. Nowadays teams aren't maximizing their potential unless they get someone's name attached. And it can't just be the name of an old-time coach. It should ideally be a company that can pump a few million into your program.

The scoop on the stadium at UVSC — which changes its name to Utah Valley University in July — is that Brown agreed to kick in $1 million for the naming rights. The school gets enough money to buy aluminum bats into the next century, and Brown gets a possible 2,500 Chevy, Toyota, Scion, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge customers each game.

"We liked the baseball stadium because of its location," Brown said in a Deseret Morning News story, noting its proximity to I-15. "In almost everything, we look at it from a civic standpoint and a business standpoint."

And don't forget the "gee-whiz" standpoint.

There's nothing quite like walking into a stadium and calling the place yours.

What is happening in Orem really isn't all that unusual.

EnergySolutions Arena might be named after an industrial cleanup company, but the team (the Jazz) and building are owned by auto titan Larry H. Miller. You know that guy. Then there's the Arena Football League's Utah Blaze, owned by Ken Garff Sports and Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Ken Garff Automotive Group. They can hook you up with a nice seat at midfield or get you in the driver's seat of a good-looking Volvo — maybe even in the same stop.