If you live in Pennsylvania or follow football or eat ketchup, you are no doubt aware the Pittsburgh Steelers venue went to bed Sunday as Heinz Field and woke up Monday as Acrisure Stadium.
For many of the faithful, this has been a shock to the system. For the more dispassionate, it is an example of a simple truth of capitalism:
Everything is for sale.
Instead of bemoaning the inevitability of change, perhaps we should just embrace the purity of the concept. Corporate sponsorship is brutally honest. It lets you know exactly who is paying the bills, whose tush is being kissed and how much a company is willing to pay for that degree of attention.
Wouldn’t it be great if politics was so straightforward?
There is a trustworthiness to the patches on a NASCAR driver’s jumpsuit. If you see Goodyear on the sleeve, there undoubtedly are Goodyear tires on the car. It is transactional, and it is right there in black and white. Well, actually, it’s in a trademarked color pattern, so don’t try to use that logo yourself.
Politics should be like that.
The naming rights should be openly sold to the legislative chambers so we know the Papa John’s Senate passed a minimum wage bill, but it is now bogged down in committee in the Doritos House of Representatives, which is likely to attach a corn subsidy amendment.
The governor’s mansion and the White House would see their rights sold in four-year increments, with the new names changing with the occupant. Smaller portions would be carved off in order of donations. The Pharmaceutical Lobby Lobby. The Big Energy Oval Office.
It might seem a bit tacky for legislators to look like they just won the pole position at Pocono Raceway, but it’s actually both tacky and deceitful to take the donations and just hope people don’t realize it. But what if donors were just listed on the lawmakers’ ties? Tastefully, of course.
This, obviously, will never happen. Not because it’s ridiculous. Government does the utterly ludicrous every single day.
No, it won’t happen because — federal or state or even local — our political leaders have no desire to be that forthcoming about who is writing the checks.
Some of the information is out there. Political contributions are searchable — to a degree. After you get into political action committees and independent lobbying organizations that (ostensibly) have no direct ties to the candidates, the water becomes a lot more muddied.
The Federal Election Commission sets limits: $2,900 per individual to the candidate’s committee; $5,000 to a PAC, $10,000 to a state or district or local party committee; $36,500 to the national committee and then $109,500 per national committee account per year.
By stacking those like normal people might with coupons at the grocery store, big donors can run up the score without going out of bounds. Create your own organization? Get around more.
That’s how Las Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson gave $218,168,500 to Republican candidates in the 2020 election and how billionaire and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg poured $152,509,750 into Democratic races: Following the rules while not exactly stamping their logos on the cars they were sponsoring.
So maybe Acrisure Stadium doesn’t have that hometown ring — yet. We probably will get over that if the Steelers bring home the Lombardi Trophy again.
But at least we know who wrote the check. That’s more than we can say about Harrisburg and Washington.
Lori Falce is a Tribune-Review community engagement editor. You can contact Lori at lfalce@triblive.com.