Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, president Len Komoroski, Quicken Loans CEO Jay Farner, Cavs GM Koby Altman, County Executive Armond Budish and Mayor Frank Jackson will assemble tomorrow afternoon to make the announcement.
The NBA will now have a team called the Rockets playing in the “Toyota Center” and a team called the Cavaliers playing in the “Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.”
This is also the first instance (among the four major professional sports) of an arena being named for a company’s product, not the company itself. It’s Heinz Field, in Pittsburgh, not Mayochup Field. It’s the Mercedez-Benz Superdome, in New Orleans, not the C-Class Superdome. The prevalence of Rocket Mortgage commercials, however, and now the arena re-brand, suggest that Quicken might be considering adopting the Rocket name for the company as a whole.
The decision to change the arena’s name looks to have occurred only within the past month. In March, new “QUICKEN” lettering was being installed on the E. 6th side of the renovated exterior, but was taken down within a few weeks.
The Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse is an extremely bad and embarrassing name for the facility — which leaders never cease to remind us is publicly owned — but sadly par for the course. It’s got a nice trochaic lilt, though, that makes it better than the likes of the Chicago White Sox’ Guaranteed Rate Field or the Arizona Cardinals’ extremely confusing University of Phoenix Stadium.
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This article appears in Apr 3-9, 2019.
As if Quicken Loans Arena wasn’t putrid enough. You know, the crapification just gallops. Ya can’t make this stuff up, so I trust you didn’t, Sam.
Absolutely ridiculous name and yes, a total embarrassment for the city. The marketing guys will have the arena go broke paying for sign changes for each new ad campaign.
Really, who thought up that name? Hard to believe they proposed it with a straight face. Are you sure this wasnt an April fools day prank?
April Fool’s Day was over a week ago, but it appears that this is NOT a gag. But it’s yet another sick joke that makes Cleveland look ridiculous…again. We;re one of the best in the nation when it comes to looking stupid.
And I thought “Guaranteed Rate Field” (what used to be Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field and Comiskey Park before that) was a terrible choice? This one’s not just awful…it’s laughable.
Worse still, it doesn’t even lend itself to any shorthand…a nickname. The Rocket? Doesn’t fly.
“Mortgage” is pronounced as “MORG-age”…maybe “The Morg” or even “The Morgue”…that one fits the Cavs perfectly…it’s where the dead bodies are stored…and the dead team that stunk up the place this season…and maybe many more to come.
Who are the lame suits that sign off on these insane decisions..and how much are they actually paid to think this shit up? Too bad we can’t bring back the Grateful Dead for a concert at The Morgue. Has a nice ring to it.
The Morgue? Catchy! But it’ll most likely be shortened from “The Rocket” to “The Rock”…meh…
I will be calling it “The FieldHouse” so I don’t need to advertise any corporate sponsorship.
Can you say snooze.. The Q didn’t need a new name just like the Gund didn’t back over a decade ago..
the Gund didn’t need a new name 10 years ago.. The Q doesn’t need one today.. I will forever know the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse as the Gund the way I was introduced to the arena at a Lumberjacks game in 1996