Sales of SEPTA Station Naming Rights

[TomNelligan]

That said, I would be in favor of the way Verizon proposes getting its name before the public. Fixing the place up and plastering its walls with Verizon equipment, ads, etc. benefits the riders and the company without wiping out the station's core identification.

That's the way the MBTA handles commercial sponsorship in Boston, at least when the system isn't shut down due to six feet of snow in two and a half weeks... a company can rent all of the ad space in a station and put up posters and banners and even floor displays, but the station name remains constant. Harvard Square, for one, has had a series of these corporate plasterings and the ad blitz changes from time to time, but it's still Harvard on all of the maps and signage.

As Mr. K also notes, corporate naming results in ever-shifting nomenclature as companies come and go. This is a particular plague in the sports world; for example, the football stadium in Miami has had six or seven different names now since it was built, including some that lasted just one year. Nothing like tradition!

[ExCon90]

I think the problem in Philadelphia was that AT&T specifically insisted that there be no reference to the actual location such as Pattison Ave. or Sports Complex, and SEPTA went along with it. As far as I can see, that was the first crack in the dam--after that they could hardly say no to Jefferson.

[motor]

The PSFS building is now a Loew's Hotel, but the large neon PSFS letters are still on top (or were the last time I looked).

Not anymore... They were taken down around the middle of December or so. Saw it on the news. They actually had problems taking them down and almost dropped one of the letters as they were moving it.

Ummm, no, that was PNB; PSFS is still there. But we wander far astray.

I'll take us further astray to tell you that my mother was a career teller at PNB (floating around several suburban branches). A piece of my youth yanked down. But then again Nations Bank did a similar thing (with dispatch) 20 years ago to the Maryland National Bank hq in Baltimore (similar architecture) when it took down the "MN" at the top after buying MNB.

NOW back to the topic - I'd love to hear the audio of negotiations between AT&T and SEPTA over the stadium stop (ha ha)...

motor

[MACTRAXX]

I think the problem in Philadelphia was that AT&T specifically insisted that there be no reference to the actual location such as Pattison Ave. or Sports Complex, and SEPTA went along with it. As far as I can see, that was the first crack in the dam--after that they could hardly say no to Jefferson.

EC90 and Everyone:

What was once known as Pattison Station or Terminal on the Broad Street Line is now re-named the
"AT&T Sports Complex Station"...

I discovered on a visit to that station that all mention of Pattison Avenue - which is a six lane east-west road -
was removed from the station going as far as to even taking down signs showing on which side of Pattison Avenue
that exits are located - which is going just too far here in my opinion...

I like the idea of a compromise rights deal allowing a company to sponsor a station or terminal but keeping the
established name meaning no thought of confusion to riders with a name change - or a backlash even...

SEPTA should have thought of this before the Jefferson Hospital deal was made and a compromise on a name
should have been "Jefferson Station at Market East" - a palatable middle ground name in my opinion...

MACTRAXX

[MACTRAXX]

My first impression was the name was sponsored by Jefferson Cleaners. It will be what I always will associate with the new name...

Everyone:

After seeing some rerun episodes of "The Jeffersons" and traveling through Jefferson Station at Market East these song lyrics based on their theme song come
to mind:

"Moving on down, Moving on down Market East side, Moving on down to a deluxe station underground - we finally got our name on the sign"

The more I thought of that gospel choir singing The Jeffersons theme song I can't get this out of my mind...

I would have enjoyed seeing Sherman Hemsley (R.I.P.) and Marla Gibbs getting into a animated conversation about Jefferson Station...

Some early April Fools Day thoughts from MACTRAXX

[Head-end View]

I just noticed the new timetables show Jefferson Station instead of Market East. When was the name changed? When I was last there a year ago I think it was still Market East.

[tgolanos]

I just noticed the new timetables show Jefferson Station instead of Market East. When was the name changed? When I was last there a year ago I think it was still Market East.

Only changed within the last 9 months or so.

[chuchubob]

Look at the original post that started this thread.

[wanderer34]

I don't mind the corporate advertising, even if it means putting their logo on the station signs, but if it means renaming the station to the company's name, then it should be a major travesty. It's also confusion since there's no such thing as AT&T Ave anywhere in Philly. I suggest this: let the sponsoring company put their entire advertising in one of the stations and keep the name like Boston does with some of their stations or you could at least allow each sponsor to place their logo next to the station name. The fact that SEPTA allowed some of it's stations to be renamed AT&T Station and Jefferson Station is stupid, and nothing more than corporate whoredom, to say the least!!! If I were running SEPTA, I'd vouch to return stations like AT&T station to return to their original names like Pattison Ave, and even work to get names like Bridge-Pratt St and Margaret-Orthodox St back on the SEPTA system and get rid of the "transportation center" moniker that SEPTA uses so much!!!

[JeffK]

I suggest this: let the sponsoring company put their entire advertising in one of the stations and keep the name like Boston does with some of their stations or you could at least allow each sponsor to place their logo next to the station name.

There's a station where Verizon does exactly that (IIRC in New York). They have exclusive advertising rights inside the station down to and including branding the digital boards, etc. but the station keeps its original name. To me that's a FAR less offensive approach than obliterating a name that's been used for a century or more and that visitors rely on to get their bearings. What's most telling is that selling rights is 180°opposite to SEPTA's other renaming initiatives that by their own statement are intended to explicitly reflect cross streets or landmarks. Then again, we all know how loudly $$$ can speak.

The fact that SEPTA allowed some of its <it's> stations to be renamed AT&T Station and Jefferson Station is stupid, and nothing more than corporate whoredom!!

+5. Predations like "AT&T Station" remind me of the way conquering powers rename major cities ... or what male dogs do in a new neighborhood.

[roadmaster]

What's most telling is that selling rights is 180°opposite to SEPTA's other renaming initiatives that by their own statement are intended to explicitly reflect cross streets or landmarks.

Bingo! It was sooooooo important for SEPTA to rename some of the stations on the P&W/Rt 100/ NHSL.

To take this a step further - With very few exceptions like terminals and unions, just naming a station for anything other then a geo name is wrong. I heard that a salesman was wandering around in a transportation center in Camden looking for a guy named Walter to get him to switch electric companies.

[TomNelligan]

As a regular rider of the MBTA and an occasional visitor to Philadelphia, I totally agree that the MBTA's approach to commercial sponsorship is far more benign and non-confusing to new riders than SEPTA's geography-challenged approach. Several busy stations on both the subway and commuter rail system up here (including Harvard Square and South Station) are plastered inside with numerous ads for a single company, but it's no worse than if each of the posters and banners pitched a different name, and the station name itself is a constant from year to year. Changing the name of a major station to that of a commercial sponsor is just plain wrong, especially since the name will change again when the sponsoring contract runs out. How many commercially-named sports stadiums have now had three or four different names?

[MACTRAXX]

TN: One sports venue that now is under its fourth name is right down in the Philadelphia Sports Complex:
The Wells Fargo Center was once known as the Wachovia, First Union and was built as the Core States Center for
the bank that had bought the naming rights back in the mid 90s and was merged into or taken over three times for
these name changes. One example of my not being a fan of selling naming rights for sports venues or rail stations.

A fellow poster suggested that the Pattison BSL Station could have been named "PAT&Tison" cleverly combining a
naming rights change with the original name. I like Boston's approach in that the established name is not changed.
I draw the line at a name change when the potential is there to confuse riders. The only good part of the BSL AT&T
Station name change was the mention of the Sports Complex - which could have easily been added to "Pattison".

MACTRAXX

[merrick1]

As a regular rider of the MBTA and an occasional visitor to Philadelphia, I totally agree that the MBTA's approach to commercial sponsorship is far more benign and non-confusing to new riders than SEPTA's geography-challenged approach.

The T does have Lechmere named for a business that has been gone for almost 20 years. I don't buy the argument that the station was named for Lechmere Square. There is no square there even if you accept Cambridge's lax standards for a "Square." There isn't even an intersection.

[TomNelligan]

No, Mr. Merrick. The fondly remembered department store Lechmere Sales didn't move into the neighborhood until 1956, decades after the Boston Elevated Railway station had been named. The Lechmere name goes back to the Revolutionary War period and the square is the intersection of Cambridge St. and First St. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lechmere_Square regarding the location and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lechmere regarding the store.