Veterans Memorial Arena - Money left on the table

[vicupstate]

I can see both sides of this.  if the Arena had not already been named in honor of Veterans, selling the naming rights would not be as offensive. But to remove the name simply for money, says that the  money is more important than honoring their sacrifice. I never liked that Washington National Airport, which was named for George Washington, not the city itself, was renamed "Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport'.  It was disrespectful of George and I tend to think Ronald wouldn't have approved.         

[spuwho]

Swisher Sweets Arena
Maxwell House Arena
Daily's Dash Arena
Ameris Bank Arena
CSX Arena
Amazon Arena
Farah & Farah Arena
Jaxnap Arena
First Baptist Arena
Sleiman Arena
Fanatics Arena
Winn Dixie Arena
Publix Arena
Bono's Pit Master Arena
Intuition Arena
Bold Bean Arena
Ring Power Arena
BCBS Arena
Black Knight Financial Arena
FIS Arena
Florida East Coast Arena
(If they ever reach us) Brightline Arena
Florida Rock Arena
Wawa Arena
RaceTrac Arena

[KenFSU]

^For whatever reason, "Center"  has become the preferred term to "Arena" (Staples Center, United Center, Barclays Center, Golden 1 Center, T-mobile Center, AT&T Center, etc.)

Gate Center
Firehouse Center
Fidelity Center
CSX Center

Exnewsman, thank you so much for your service. We all owe you a large debt of gratitude.

[Kerry]

'Honoring' people by naming existing stuff after them is about the lamest, bordering on insulting, way to show respect.  I cringe every time I see things like "Person X Memorial Overpass" and "Person Y Memorial Park".  If a person or collection of people are worth honoring then build a real memorial.

[brucef58]

Let's say as an example Maxwell House would pay $2 million per year for naming rights.  They might consider calling it the "Maxwell House Veterans' Memorial Arena" or the "The Veterans' Memorial Arena Sponsored by Maxwell House?"

There are ways to honor our veteran's and also name the facility and it produces good will toward the naming organization to honor our veterans.

[KenFSU]

^This option also leaves significant money on the table and just kicks the can down the road again. It's a perception thing. If you name it the Firehouse Center, that's what people come to know and refer to it as. If you name it Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Sponsored by Firehouse, Firehouse becomes an afterthought, and for all intents and purposes, it's still the Veterans Memorial Arena. Full naming rights get much higher bids, from a much broader pool of bidders than partial. They also tend to be longer-term, even permanent arrangements, versus more fleeting sponsorships.

Case in point, Taxslayer's naming rights deal with the city was extended for double the term at double the price when the city agreed to drop the old name and officially change from the "Taxslayer Gator Bowl" to simply the "The Taxslayer Bowl."

It ain't worth doing halfway.

[Charles Hunter]

Those are all good, fact backed arguments.
However, we are no in a post fact and logic electoral world. There are a lot of veterans and military families in Jacksonville. I suspect they vote at higher rates than average. Thus, Council members will listen to them. What Council member wants to be labeled anti veteran at their next election?

[KenFSU]

^Look at how quickly Alvin Brown backtracked:

http://news.wjct.org/post/no-naming-rights-deal-jax-veterans-memorial-arena

[FlaBoy]

Missed Opportunity for Jax...Magic's NBA D-League team  to Lakeland:

http://www.nba.com/magic/lakeland/press-release

[vicupstate]

Those are all good, fact backed arguments.
However, we are no in a post fact and logic electoral world. There are a lot of veterans and military families in Jacksonville. I suspect they vote at higher rates than average. Thus, Council members will listen to them. What Council member wants to be labeled anti veteran at their next election?

On the national level, we have moved into a post fact electoral world.  This is not an example of that.  This is a difference of opinion, pure and simple. Neither side is saying things that are not true. Some people believe commercialization of public property is not appropriate. Some are okay with the idea in some instances but not at the expense of honoring Veterans.  These people collectively have made their opinions know in a sufficient way to 'rule the day' on the issue.  That is how it is suppose to work.   

If it is that important to you, organize your side and make your wishes known.

BTW, there are other options for naming rights that are available starting with the Convention Center and the Baseball field.           

[vicupstate]

It most certainly is a memorial. Is the Claude Yates building not a memorial to Claude Yates? Is the Ed Ball building not a memorial to Ed Ball?

Believe it or not, some things actually are more important than money.     

[Snufflee]

It most certainly is a memorial. Is the Claude Yates building not a memorial to Claude Yates? Is the Ed Ball building not a memorial to Ed Ball?

Believe it or not, some things actually are more important than money.     

As a veteran I couldn't disagree more, it is the name of a building, the actual memorial is a few hundred feet away.

[camarocane]

Is the Claude Yates building not a memorial to Claude Yates? Is the Ed Ball building not a memorial to Ed Ball?

No.

They are buildings that exist for specific purposes.  They were not constructed as a means to honor Ed Ball and Claude Yates.  They decided to honor them by putting their name on the building, which is different.

The monument constructed specifically and for no other purpose beyond memorializing veterans on the grounds is a memorial.  Memorial park has a memorial. 

A stroll around our National Mall in DC would present you with many of our country's greatest memorials.  I agree those sorts of things are more important than money.

This aint.

QFT, there is a big difference between a building and a memorial.

[vicupstate]

 The building is called Veterans Memorial arena. It is a Memorial to their service. Regardless of the semantics, the point is the same. This community choose to HONOR, if that word works better for you, Veterans by naming this facility for them.  Is it not disrespectful to purposely remove that name, for a buck?

In my view it is.         

[KenFSU]

It most certainly is a memorial.   

With all due respect Vic, I completely disagree.

Memorial: noun
something designed to preserve the memory of a person, event, etc., as a monument or a holiday.

something, especially a structure, established to remind people of a person or event.

a structure built to remind people of a famous person or event.

an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person (who has died) or an event.

The Vietnam Veterans Wall is a Memorial. The September 11th World Trade Center fountains are a memorial. The Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Liberty Bell, and Oklahoma City remembrance site are memorials. They aren't 16,000 seat arenas that host the Jacksonville Giants, Harlem Globetrotters, Soul Circus, and Pearl Jam concerts, but sacred grounds designed specifically to focus the attention on a historic person, group, or event.

You go to our Veterans Wall, and to a person, every single visitor stops in their tracks and thinks about the sacrifice that our veterans make.

I would bet anything that less than 1 in 10,000 people who visit our arena give a second thought to our veterans community. Not out of disrespect, but because there is simply zero connection between their heroic service and a multi-use sports & entertainment venue. I could name my breakfast Veterans Memorial Pancakes, and even if the name sticks for 20 years, that doesn't make the pancakes a memorial.