With fans questioning why the Chiefs sold naming rights for the field, does it even actually matter that the field is dubbed GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium?
Hello again everyone and welcome to another week of the ArrowChop! This week is a bit different in format, but usually, this is the column where we look at the positives/negatives of a certain Chiefs/NFL issue and look at both sides of the aisle. Then you, the readers, will come to your conclusions after I lay out the case. So sit back, relax, and enjoy as we breakdown this week’s hot topic.
If you haven’t read or heard the news yet, the Kansas City Chiefs has sold the naming rights of their field to GEHA (or Government Employee Health Association Inc”, which is just an insurance company. The move was a shock to some as no one expected the field name to change. The name will stay like this for the next decade:
While it’s now called GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, some fans are not fond of this change. Some are agitated with the Chiefs’ front office at the corporate greed while others seem to care less about the field name being changed. With that said, the topic for today is does the Chiefs’ field name change to “GEHA Field” actually matter? As always, let’s break down both sides of the aisle to see which holds more truth.
The name change doesn’t matter
For starters, the stadium is still called Arrowhead Stadium and the only instance that has changed is the GEHA field aspect. People overreacted and thought the stadium name itself was changed, but it wasn’t.
Another short point is that people are still going to call it Arrowhead Stadium, and the only time you’ll hear GEHA field is when you watch the games on TV or hear it on the radio. Many Chiefs’ fans have established this already as they’ll still call it Arrowhead no matter what; you’ll barely hear anyone saying GEHA Field rather than Arrowhead Stadium.
Finally, people understand what this deal was mainly for, and it was to make some bank. As the saying goes, money talks, and it seems as though GEHA made a desirable offer for the Chiefs’ front office to accept this deal. It’s the Hunt family’s team, so they can sell naming rights to whomever they please, and in terms of names, it’s not even that bad.
The name change does matter
Then again, not everyone is ecstatic about the field name change. The main reason for this is that some people feel this is a corporate sellout. One fan felt that immensely as Twitter user @honeybadger210 stated boldly:
Naming rights? Don’t tell me you’re gonna make the stadium into a f***ing billboard
@honeybadger210 on Twitter
Many stadiums now have corporate names attached to the field name like FedEx Field, Capital One Arena, and others; it’s just how the NFL and other leagues are. Fans feel like the name was one of the few stadiums with an original name with nothing attached to it. Adding on to this point, some feel they gave into greed:
Another reason that connects to this is that fans feel that this was a workaround from an actual stadium name change. Everyone can agree that most Chiefs’ fans from all over the league would riot in disapproval if the beloved Arrowhead Stadium name was changed, so they choose the best-case scenario for cash reasons; just rename the field. It’s simple, but it makes one party slightly happier than the other.
This debate article was shorter than most as the points were straight-forward, and not much explaining had to be done. What are your thoughts on the field name change? Leave a comment down below to join the discussion.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter @HunterStanton8 and @ArrowheadLive. Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic day.
