What's in a name? Med schools sell to the highest bidder

The 12th oldest medical school in the United States, Jefferson Medical College, has just changed its name to Sydney Kimmel Medical College after Mr. Kimmel donated $110 million.

Declining tuition revenues (ha!) and the reluctance to refuse such a large donation were important factors in the renaming.

When I checked, I found that several other allopathic and osteopathic medical schools are named after benefactors. The oldest medical school in the country, at the University of Pennsylvania, changed its name to the Perelman School of Medicine in 2011.

Some of the names are at least related to medicine like the Frank H Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. Dr. Netter was a famous medical illustrator and author. There's also the Dr. Seuss Theodore Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth University.

Three years ago, I blogged about the increasingly forgettable names being attached to stadiums such as M & T Bank Stadium [aka Ravens Stadium at Camden Yards, PSINet Stadium, Ravens Stadium], O.com Coliseum [aka overstock.com Coliseum, Network Associates Coliseum, McAfee Coliseum, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum], and Sun Life Stadium [aka Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, and my favorite—Land Shark Stadium.]

How much money would it take to get a school to change its name to The Tostitos School of Medicine or Yahoo Medical College?

Taking a cue from all of this, I am willing to sell the naming rights to the Skeptical Scalpel blog for the right offer. Operators are standing by.

Forgettable Stadium Names

Yesterday the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum was renamed the Overstock.com Coliseum. It might be possible to think of a worse name for a sports venue, but right now I can’t. However, it is in keeping with the recent trend of selling naming rights to the highest bidder. Some 20 of the current 31 NFL stadiums are named for corporations including the melodious and memorable Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Lucas Oil Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, LP Field, Qualcomm Field, Qwest Field, Sun Life Stadium [formerly LandShark Stadium], M & T Bank Stadium and Invesco Field at Mile High. Even some of the non-corporate names [Cowboys Stadium, Cleveland Browns Stadium and the Georgia Dome] are quite pedestrian.

It gets a little crazy at times as noted in this excerpt about the stadium in St. Louis from Wikipedia: “As part of a deal to sell the naming rights to Rams Park (now the Russell Athletic Training Center), the Rams' training facility in Earth City, Missouri, to sportswear manufacturer Russell Athletic, the Rams agreed to rename the Edward Jones Dome to Russell Athletic Field for the Rams' Monday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears on December 11, 2006. The renaming was for the one night only.”

And just look at the fate of some of the companies who at one time had stadiums named after them. The following went into bankruptcy, were acquired by another corporation or otherwise had to relinquish their naming rights: Pro Player, CMGi, PSINet, Alltel, McAfee, Network Associates, 3Com, Ericsson, and Trans World Airlines.

Contrast the above with the 20-team English Premier League, whose football [soccer] stadium names evoke historic, even regal images. Here are a few: Stamford Bridge, Craven Cottage, White Hart Lane, Old Trafford, St. James’s Park, Brittania Stadium, The Hawthorns, Molineux Stadium and my favorite, The Stadium of Light. Only three EPL stadiums are named after corporations.

I'm sure those living in Northern California can't wait to experience the nostalgia and atmosphere at the Overstock.com Coliseum. As for me, I'll take The Stadium of Light.