House That Jack Built Is Now Supported by a Pile of Money

When Jack Kent Cooke built a magnificent arena in Inglewood to house his beloved Lakers and Kings, he named the building the Forum.

But Cooke, a man in love with language, felt that his simple title was inadequate to convey the splendor of his edifice.

“We need another name in front of Forum, “ Cooke mused to Chick Hearn, the voice of the Lakers and a team vice president at the time.

Chick thought it over for about 2 seconds.

“How about Fabulous Forum?” Hearn offered.

“Wonnnnnnderful, my good man!” Cooke beamed. “There will be something extra in your pay envelope this week.”

And there was. A wallet-sized photo of Cooke.

Seriously, though, it really was Hearn who gave the Forum its fabulous modifier, and it was Cooke who insisted that the building’s full name be used by his employees, from switchboard operators to Chickie himself.

The extra name was perfect for Los Angeles--gaudy and pretentious in an inoffensive, Hollywoodish sort of way.

When Cooke sold the arena and the teams to Jerry Buss in 1979, the fabulous name lived on, unofficially, in Hearn’s broadcasts and in the hearts and minds of many fans.

Until this week. Now the building is the Great Western Forum.

It’s a little sad to see the place downgraded from fabulous to great, but it’s for a good cause: Money.

Great Western will give Jerry Buss about a million dollars a year for 30 years for the privilege of sending a crew to the corner of Prairie and Manchester and painting the company name and logo on everything that doesn’t move.

I can’t knock Buss for selling out. For a million dollars a year, maybe even for less, I would change my name to Great Western Ostler. It would be an inconvenience in terms of autograph signing, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

It’s not clear what effect the Forum’s name change will have on the fans, although it surely will eliminate the local custom of Laker fans leaving games midway through the fourth quarter. As everyone knows, at Great Western there are substantial penalties for early withdrawal.

Even Chick isn’t sure exactly what the change means.

“I don’t know if it will be the Great Western Fabulous Forum, or what,” Hearn said. “We haven’t received any official word yet. Hopefully, they’ll leave the name to our (Hearn’s and broadcast sidekick Stu Lantz’s) discretion. If you pound an advertiser’s name too much, some people might resent it enough to take their business elsewhere.”

Like where? To the Bank of America Sports Arena?

I’m not sure how extensive the cosmetic changes on the Forum will be. It’s an awkward juxtaposition of images, the Old West and the Roman Empire. To resolve this conflict, according to one rumor, Great Western will remodel the stately Roman-column exterior to make the place look like a giant chuck wagon.

The name change is a breakthrough in corporate America. It’s not unusual for arenas and stadiums to be named after financial benefactors--Arco Arena, Rich Stadium, Pauley Pavilion--but it’s unprecedented for a sponsor to jump in after the fact and buy itself into the name and image of a building.

Now that Buss and GW have shown the way, though, there will be others.

Some corporations will see natural tie-ins with teams or arenas, much as Rolaids antacid tablets sponsors an award to honor major league baseball’s top relief (get it?) pitcher.

There are many possibilities. With the help of sponsor money, the Rose Bowl could rectify its infamous shortage of restrooms and be renamed the Tidy Bowl.

The Inglewood horse-racing emporium could become “Windex Hollywood Park--Where the windows clean the people.”

The huge New Orleans indoor stadium might become the Campbell’s Chunky Souperdome. The world’s most famous basketball gym could be renamed the Roach Motel Boston Garden.

Even teams could be adopted by sponsors. After all, the Detroit Pistons were originally named the Zollner Pistons, in honor of the team owner, Fred Zollner, and his piston-manufacturing company. Thus we could wind up with the Coppertone Suns, the Chesterfield Kings, the Gillette Knicks, the Acme Steroid Giants.

The Philadelphia hockey club might become the American Airlines Frequent Flyers.

Probably the most logical corporate tie-ins would be companies or organizations whose images could stand some bolstering, who would benefit from association with the wholesome world of sport. These troubled entities would simply buy into a stadium’s good name.

We might wind up seeing Union Carbide Yankee Stadium, Jalisco Cheese Soldier Field, the Suzuki Samurai Superdome, Jim and Tammy Bakker Square Garden, Democratic Party Wrigley Field and Tommy Lasorda’s Ribs & Pasta Dodger Stadium.

No sense fighting it. Corporate money is too good to turn down, and the days of noncommercial names for sports arenas and stadiums are past.

In the case of the Forum, the new name will even help alleviate the identity problem among local entertainment venues. There has been confusion, especially among folks new to the area, between the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood and the Mark Taper Forum downtown. I know some people who went to hear a symphony and a hockey game broke out.

Besides, the money is for a good cause. Until Jerry Buss got this recent handout from Great Western, he didn’t know where his next sports franchise was coming from.

Thanks for reading, and have a Fabulous Great Western day.