Opinion: What's in a name? If it's an iconic stadium or arena, a great deal of public good

The mere idea of selling naming rights to places like Lambeau Field, Fenway Park or Madison Square Garden would normally be considered sacrilege. An abomination.

Now, however, allowing a corporation or billionaire to slap their names on these famous stadiums and arenas would be a public service. An easy way to help a reeling world.

FC Barcelona, the famed European soccer club, announced Tuesday that it is selling naming rights to its stadium, Camp Nou, for a year, with the money from the deal going to COVID-19 relief efforts. This is no small gesture. Camp Nou is one of the most iconic stadiums in European soccer, and the privilege of being the first to attach one’s name to it – even if it is for a very limited time – will fetch tens of millions of dollars.

That kind of money will make a real difference in a country ravaged by the virus. Spain has almost 205,000 reported cases of COVID-19, second only to the United States, and only Italy has had more deaths.

“We think that we have to have a very quick response, putting our crown jewel at the service of (the fight),” Barcelona’s vice president, Jordi Cardoner, who was among those who had the virus, told The Associated Press.

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So what say you, Green Bay Packers, Boston Red Sox, New York Knicks and all you other teams and schools with arenas and stadiums that are some of our country’s most prized shrines? How about selling out for the greater good?

These stadiums are not and never have been corporate rent-a-palaces. Their allure is in the tradition of their simplicity. Which is also what would make these one-time deals so lucrative – and beneficial.

The United States has almost 800,000 reported cases of COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins, and more than 42,000 people have died. The federal response has been as devastating as the virus itself, and states and municipalities are pleading for help.

Imagine how many testing kits could be produced in exchange for say, Liberty Mutual, putting its name on Fenway Park. How much laboratory capacity could be expanded to ramp up for production of an eventual vaccine by allowing golf course and plumbing product magnate Herb Kohler to add his moniker to Lambeau Field.

Even when games resume, likely without fans at first, there will still be great need. Think of how many food banks could be supported and small businesses kept afloat if music mogul David Geffen put his name on Dodger Stadium. How much more research could be done if Clayton Mathile wrote a check to Ohio State for the privilege of putting his name – or better yet, since it was his alma mater, that of old business partner Paul Iams – on The Horseshoe.

There are potentially hundreds of millions of dollars that could be put toward desperately needed science and social services, and all it takes is a temporary name change and some new signage.

Now, I know some traditionalists will howl at this idea, seeing it as a slippery slope toward blatant commercialism. But it doesn’t have to be. Barcelona is limiting the naming rights deal to a year, and Camp Nou will remain part of the name.

And if sacrificing tradition for the equivalent of a very large vanity plate means saving lives and keeping the most vulnerable in our population fed and sheltered, well, that seems like a worthy trade-off.

We all know there's money to be had in naming rights. In this case, there's good to be done, too. 

Follow Paste BN Sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.