Yankee Stadium No More?

Buster Olney has just reported that Apple has bought the naming rights to Yankee Stadium for a record $750 million over the next 25 years. It's not clear from the report whether it will become Apple Stadium this year or next, but I am not pleased. I can only imagine all the "Big Apple" marketing campaigns we will see over the coming months and years.

I know that many baseball stadiums have succumbed to sponsorship pressures over the past decade, but I always thought Yankee Stadium was immune to those. With the loss of the name Yankee Stadium comes a loss of independence and a loss of sanctity. This will no longer be The House That Ruth Built -- it will be The House That Steve Jobs Bought.  It's a sad day for Yankees fans.

I did some research and found that Citigroup paid $400 million for the naming rights to Citi Field so I'm sure $750 million was a pricetag the Steinbrenners couldn't turn down. I'm not going to boycott the Yankees or send hate mail to the Steinbrenners, but this just doesn't sit well with me.

Oh, and by the way....happy April 1st, people.

While we have you here, don't forget to check out our Invention Bracket First Round recap that we posted last night.