Will ballpark get new name?

More than the others, EnergySolutions and Franklin Covey clearly have an image or product to promote.

"We believe that what we do is vital to the nuclear industry," EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker of said the company that cleans up and disposes of hazardous waste. "To better understand what we do, you've got to have some name identification."

Walker would not divulge the financial terms of the 10-year deal EnergySolutions reached with Utah Jazz and arena owner Larry Miller.

Franklin Covey believes its investment boosts name recognition.

"It reminds the public Franklin Covey has seven stores in the state and that we're a viable entity that's still providing service. It keeps us top of mind when people think of corporate or individual training," Lund said.

Or has it been around so long now that baseball fans just think of it as a place to see a game? Maybe that's one of things Franklin Covey is weighing as it considers its future in baseball.

Franklin Quest initially turned down the city's offer to buy the name, but reconsidered.

Former Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini took heat for enlisting Franklin Quest to help pay for the stadium. Some called it crass commercialism, while others said the contribution wasn't enough to warrant its name on the marquee.

Howard said public outcry to corporate naming has subsided in recent years.

"People are so inured to it now. They're like, 'OK, that's what the landscape of sports is all about,"' he said.

Teams would be better off, Howard said, to attract a company with a retail component, which is what RSL has its sights on.

"I'd prefer it would be a consumer brand, something that meant something to people. And that's not an attack on EnergySolutions, but they don't even sell to consumers, so why would they name a building like that?" RSL owner Dave Checketts said in a Deseret News story last month. "The reason is obviously to help their political and other clout, and we may find somebody like that before it's all over."

Meantime, it seems West Valley officials have been in a state of perpetual negotiation for naming rights at the E Center, short for Events Center, since it opened in 1997. They turned down $8 million from Colorado-based beer maker Coors in 2000. The search continues.

Should the Franklin Covey lettering be removed from the ballpark, it would be the second major name change in a Salt Lake sports venue. The Delta Center, the longtime home of the Utah Jazz, became EnergySolutions Arena in 2006. Delta Air Lines was struggling to the emerge from bankruptcy at the time.

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