IF YOU’RE GOING COMMERCIAL, GO ALL THE WAY

HOUSTON Rockets NBA franchise play their home games at a midtown arena called the Toyota center. Toyota paid $100million for the naming rights on completion in 2003. For this they get their name in large letters on the roof and in other prominent places inside, plus a ‘dominant presence’ among the commercials shown on the big screen before and during games. Back then, Houston’s Toyota center was the fourth largest naming rights deal in American sport. Walking around there earlier this year it was clear what else Toyota got for their buck. Their cars were everywhere, and very conspicuous on podiums in the concourses. There was never any doubt that Houston Rockets and Toyota were a partnership. It is different in Britain. We want the money, but not the taint. We pretend we’re above it, in a way the Americans do not. We may balk at the commercialism of sport over there, but at least they are open about it. The news that Emirates are unhappy with their sponsorship of the FA cup comes as no surprise to anyone who has seen how it works this side of the Atlantic. Who calls it the Emirates FA cup? Nobody. The same for previous sponsors Budweiser and E.On. The Football Association want it all ways. They want to keep the money, but also the tradition. They know it would cause an outcry to lose the name of the most historic knockout competition in club football, yet they cannot bear to forgo the loot. So what they have is a compromise, and a mess. The NFL keeps the name of the Super Bowl clean, so do uEFA and the champions League and FIFA and the World cup. The FA should do the same. It should be the FA cup, proud and unadorned — or go the whole hog and make it the Emirates cup, equally unashamed of being sold to the highest bidder. This third way offers the worst deal, to all.