Wisconsin notes

[dvferyance]

So MillerCoors lost the naming rights for Miller Park to American Family Insurance.  What do they do about "Miller Park Way?"

AmFam Boulevard

Not sure if you are serious, but that would be bad.  They need to go with something permanent so they don't have to rename it again when someone outbids AmFam next time.  Best suggestion I've heard is to name it after Bob Uecker or just call it Brewers Parkway.  Or maybe they can sell the naming rights to the road to Miller .

They should have just kept it 43rd Street. But why even do they have to change it? There are still names of streets named after things that are no longer there. It's not unusual.

[Mrt90]

I'm seriously upset that the name of the Brewers stadium will not stay as Miller Park. The name means so much to the team and the city of Milwaukee, and to name it otherwise means we lose a part of Milwaukee's brewing history. It doesn't even feel like a corporate-named stadium, because the name Miller is synonymous with the Milwaukee Brewers. There's just no point naming it anything else.

Eh. It's just a corporate named stadium.  Always has been. Just because it is familiar to you, that doesn't change that.

I think Harley-Davidson and Rexnord missed an opportunity here.  But I'm really glad it's not going to be Potawatomi Hotel and Casino Ballpark.

[gr8daynegb]

I think the change from Miller Park might be harder, since it was called that from the time the first brick was laid. Until 2020, one can say it was always known as Miller Park.

I found a comment elsewhere on the net a bit intriguing. If AmFam wants more of a Milwaukee presence, why didn't they go harder after naming rights to the new Bucks arena? I still wonder what else there is to the story. Will there be another big announcement from Miller (e.g., they're in a bigger financial hurt)? Is the Brewers organization trying to be more "PC" by reducing the influence of an adult beverage company?

I don't like the change myself, but I'm going to reserve a harder stance on the situation until AmFam announces what the name will be changed to. IMO, Miller Park, while commercialized, was easy, classy, and a seemingly perfect fit, given the history of the team and Milwaukee. The whole thing caught me by surprise; I never realized there was a sunset to the stadium's naming rights. Makes me wonder if AmFam will buy rights to the Kohl Center next? As others have mentioned, I highly doubt Lambeau will go anywhere. There's way too much history there, not to mention a very deep fanbase, in conjunction with the unique ownership status. Riots will ensue if a name change there ever sees the serious light of day.

In riots you mean people will keep saying Lambeau Field instead of whatever name they would try and rename it.  That will be American Family Insurance's big issue if anything here is people still calling by former name instead of new name.  Still have White sox fans to this day that refuse to call their team's ballpark anything except Comiskey Park.

[DaBigE]

So MillerCoors lost the naming rights for Miller Park to American Family Insurance.  What do they do about "Miller Park Way?"

AmFam Boulevard

Not sure if you are serious, but that would be bad.  They need to go with something permanent so they don't have to rename it again when someone outbids AmFam next time.  Best suggestion I've heard is to name it after Bob Uecker or just call it Brewers Parkway.  Or maybe they can sell the naming rights to the road to Miller .

There are still names of streets named after things that are no longer there. It's not unusual.

^ This. Think about how many industries or businesses that have gone out of business or relocated. For example, Madison has an ever-growing list of street names that are now meaningless...Mayer Ave, Royster, Ave, Shopko Dr, Ray-o-vac Dr. Sure, it may sound weird, but I wouldn't mind it remaining Miller Park Way. It does go past the stadium lot named Miller. Unless they rename that too, it's not totally meaningless. As time passes, it won't be as strange.

[SSOWorld]

I think I'll sell rights to name me

[Bickendan]

I think I'll sell rights to name me

"Brought to you by Carl's Jr."

[Big John]

I think I'll sell rights to name me

"Brought to you by Carl's Jr."

In Wisconsin that would be Hardees

[MantyMadTown]

So MillerCoors lost the naming rights for Miller Park to American Family Insurance.  What do they do about "Miller Park Way?"

AmFam Boulevard

Not sure if you are serious, but that would be bad.  They need to go with something permanent so they don't have to rename it again when someone outbids AmFam next time.  Best suggestion I've heard is to name it after Bob Uecker or just call it Brewers Parkway.  Or maybe they can sell the naming rights to the road to Miller .

There are still names of streets named after things that are no longer there. It's not unusual.

^ This. Think about how many industries or businesses that have gone out of business or relocated. For example, Madison has an ever-growing list of street names that are now meaningless...Mayer Ave, Royster, Ave, Shopko Dr, Ray-o-vac Dr. Sure, it may sound weird, but I wouldn't mind it remaining Miller Park Way. It does go past the stadium lot named Miller. Unless they rename that too, it's not totally meaningless. As time passes, it won't be as strange.

I wouldn't mind keeping it Miller Park Way or changing it to something like Mrt90 suggested. Just as long as they don't name it after AmFam. They already have a street like that in Madison. It's by the AmFam headquarters.

I think the change from Miller Park might be harder, since it was called that from the time the first brick was laid. Until 2020, one can say it was always known as Miller Park.

I found a comment elsewhere on the net a bit intriguing. If AmFam wants more of a Milwaukee presence, why didn't they go harder after naming rights to the new Bucks arena? I still wonder what else there is to the story. Will there be another big announcement from Miller (e.g., they're in a bigger financial hurt)? Is the Brewers organization trying to be more "PC" by reducing the influence of an adult beverage company?

I don't like the change myself, but I'm going to reserve a harder stance on the situation until AmFam announces what the name will be changed to. IMO, Miller Park, while commercialized, was easy, classy, and a seemingly perfect fit, given the history of the team and Milwaukee. The whole thing caught me by surprise; I never realized there was a sunset to the stadium's naming rights. Makes me wonder if AmFam will buy rights to the Kohl Center next? As others have mentioned, I highly doubt Lambeau will go anywhere. There's way too much history there, not to mention a very deep fanbase, in conjunction with the unique ownership status. Riots will ensue if a name change there ever sees the serious light of day.

In riots you mean people will keep saying Lambeau Field instead of whatever name they would try and rename it.  That will be American Family Insurance's big issue if anything here is people still calling by former name instead of new name.  Still have White sox fans to this day that refuse to call their team's ballpark anything except Comiskey Park.

When a name sticks with the community usually they're never gonna want to change it, especially if it's named after somebody or after a company that's very important to the city. That means if it does change the opposition would naturally be fierce, and they'll keep calling it by its original name. There's plenty of people in Chicago who still call their tallest building the Sears Tower. I would still like the Brewers stadium to be called Miller Park. Lambeau Field is never gonna change its name exactly because of this.

[SSOWorld]

Sadly, Miller Park is not a landmark like Lambeau.

[tchafe1978]

So MillerCoors lost the naming rights for Miller Park to American Family Insurance.  What do they do about "Miller Park Way?"

AmFam Boulevard

Not sure if you are serious, but that would be bad.  They need to go with something permanent so they don't have to rename it again when someone outbids AmFam next time.  Best suggestion I've heard is to name it after Bob Uecker or just call it Brewers Parkway.  Or maybe they can sell the naming rights to the road to Miller .

Yeah, I wasn't serious.

[DaBigE]

So MillerCoors lost the naming rights for Miller Park to American Family Insurance.  What do they do about "Miller Park Way?"

AmFam Boulevard

Not sure if you are serious, but that would be bad.  They need to go with something permanent so they don't have to rename it again when someone outbids AmFam next time.  Best suggestion I've heard is to name it after Bob Uecker or just call it Brewers Parkway.

Brewers Pkwy would create a whole 'nother mess, since there's already a Brewer's Way nearby. Just leave the street alone. A few of the businesses would appreciate that, since a quick google map tour shows a few of them use it in their name. Not to mention everyone else along the ~1-mile stretch who would have to re-brand business cards, etc... But if they must change it, and they don't go for Uecker Pkwy, I'll throw this one out there: Home Run.

[Bickendan]

I think I'll sell rights to name me

"Brought to you by Carl's Jr."

In Wisconsin that would be Hardees

Do you think Idiocracy did the research?

[skluth]

Sadly, Miller Park is not a landmark like Lambeau.

^^^^^^^^^ This

I lived in St Louis for most of the last 30 years (moved last summer). Busch Stadium is still Busch Stadium, but there has been a Busch Stadium since 1953 and AB (now InBev) still pours a large amount of money into supporting the Cards. However, what was once the Kiel Center has been called the Savvis Center, the Scottrade Center, and now the Enterprise Center since 2000. There are locals who still call it the Kiel or Savvis Center. The Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre was originally Riverport Amphitheatre, then UMB Bank Pavilion and Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis before its current moniker. Most locals still call it Riverport.

The point is you can brand a stadium, get your brand mentioned on all sports broadcasts, but you can't control what locals call it. No doubt many fans will call it Miller Park for years. So get over the branding thing. Nobody really cares what the name is.

[MantyMadTown]

Sadly, Miller Park is not a landmark like Lambeau.

^^^^^^^^^ This

I lived in St Louis for most of the last 30 years (moved last summer). Busch Stadium is still Busch Stadium, but there has been a Busch Stadium since 1953 and AB (now InBev) still pours a large amount of money into supporting the Cards. However, what was once the Kiel Center has been called the Savvis Center, the Scottrade Center, and now the Enterprise Center since 2000. There are locals who still call it the Kiel or Savvis Center. The Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre was originally Riverport Amphitheatre, then UMB Bank Pavilion and Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis before its current moniker. Most locals still call it Riverport.

The point is you can brand a stadium, get your brand mentioned on all sports broadcasts, but you can't control what locals call it. No doubt many fans will call it Miller Park for years. So get over the branding thing. Nobody really cares what the name is.

In the case of St. Louis, younger fans would probably still be more likely to call it by its new name because they don't remember the original name. It's probably also going to be like that for young Brewers fans.

[DJ Particle]

I think I'll sell rights to name me

"Brought to you by Carl's Jr."

In Wisconsin that would be Hardees

Do you think Idiocracy did the research?

I just call them all "Carl's Jr."  Never understood why they didn't just rename them after Carl's Jr bought out Hardees.

[Joe The Dragon]

Sadly, Miller Park is not a landmark like Lambeau.

Soldier Field is an other one that can't really change unless some wants to have the term in office to be labeled as the one that sold out the troops

[triplemultiplex]

Soldier Field is an other one that can't really change unless some wants to have the term in office to be labeled as the one that sold out the troops

Besides, what company would want the ignominy of being associated with the Bears?

In my opinion, though, "Soldier Field" doesn't exist any more.  That facility was torn down and replaced with one that looks like a flying saucer crashed into a museum.

[DaBigE]

Soldier Field is an other one that can't really change unless some wants to have the term in office to be labeled as the one that sold out the troops

Besides, what company would want the ignominy of being associated with the Bears?

Pepsi?
Taco Bell?

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Soldier Field is an other one that can't really change unless some wants to have the term in office to be labeled as the one that sold out the troops

Besides, what company would want the ignominy of being associated with the Bears?

Pepsi?
Taco Bell?

This bar none is the best post ever made on this board.

[Roadguy]

With a change in administration and a new Transportation Secretary (Good riddance to Dave Ross who was nowhere near qualified for the job), there is new talk of starting up new/restarting studies (pending additional revenue is found for construction): https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/citing-impact-of-delayed-studies-wisdot-to-restart-look-at/article_60d82999-ede0-50af-a145-3ba58439f6f2.html

[The Ghostbuster]

I hope the projects mentioned are resurrected, and ultimately constructed. I think delaying them was a mistake. Of course, there is always the issue of funding, but that does not mean the projects should be deferred indefinitely.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

It comes down to though that simply increasing user fees is not enough. It'll help, but not solve the problem.

[SSOWorld]

And after the lame duck laws - don't expect any changes.

[JREwing78]

The freeze-thaw cycle has been rather unkind to I-39/90 just south of the Beltline:
https://www.channel3000.com/news/delays-continue-on-southbound-interstate-as-crews-repair-damaged-roads/1019329248

[MantyMadTown]

The freeze-thaw cycle has been rather unkind to I-39/90 just south of the Beltline:
https://www.channel3000.com/news/delays-continue-on-southbound-interstate-as-crews-repair-damaged-roads/1019329248

I hope we have enough money in the budget to repair all the damaged roads this year. This winter has been pretty brutal.