naming rights

From what I've heard, the stadium where the Oakland Raiders play their home games has sold the naming rights to Overstock.com, so ostensibly the venue will be called 'Overstock.com Coliseum' or some such name next year. I miss when it was simply called the 'Oakland Coliseum' (or 'Oakland-Alameda Coliseum' I suppose).

For awhile now, my idea has been: why doesn't a company, oh, say, Apple (a favorite of mine, by the way!) buy the rights to the stadium at Candlestick Point where the 49ers play their home games, and call it 'Candlestick Park' like in the good old days? Sure, the name 'Apple' won't be splashed all over the place and won't get mentioned all the time, but as a measure of good will or gift to the fans... Plus, I'm sure people will be well aware that it is Apple Computer that is doing such a thing.

So going forward, perhaps when/if the new 49ers stadium is built in the South Bay some years from now, the same idea can apply. Maybe Apple can pay for the rights to the name and have it called '49ers Stadium.' We'd all still know it's Apple (or whichever company goes for this idea), but it will be officially named '49ers Stadium' or 'Niners Stadium' for short.

Brilliant, huh? :-)