It’s been a great 33 years for Gampel Pavilion, the home of the UConn Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams. It’s seen some great moments and the Huskies have never finished the season with a losing record on campus. Its convenient location across from the Recreation Center and Student Union also make it easier for students to get there. With other schools like Rutgers prioritizing money, they’ve renamed their arena’s with local sponsorships, like Jersey Mike’s Arena in Rutgers’ case. In the same vein, the DC Sports section decided to do a little brainstorming to help UConn decide what local brands they should utilize if they do go down the monetary path…
Stratton Stave
Associate Sports Editor
he/him/his
The D.P. Dome
D.P. Dough is a student favorite at UConn, serving their specialty and custom calzones late into the night. Many students at various different colleges falsely perceive that D.P. Dough is some sort of local mom-and-pop shop unique to their college, when in reality there are 30 different locations across the country. Unique to Connecticut or not, the way “The D.P. Dome” rolls off the tongue is unmatched. It truly and perfectly fits the preferences of the tens of thousands of students attending UConn and also works well with the fact that Gampel Pavilion is in fact a dome. The “doe” sound that starts both dome and Dough works perfectly together, which would instantly make the arena name one of the best-sounding in the nation, which would be perfect for the basketball capital of the world.
Evan Rodriguez
Senior Columnist
He/Him/His
Subway Center
Founded right in Bridgeport, I’m honestly surprised that a company the size of Subway hasn’t thought to attach its name to a sports venue in Connecticut. They already have two locations right in Storrs (alongside a kiosk in the UConn Student Union), place plenty of athletes in their advertisements and have already shown their interest to get into the sports world with sponsorship ventures in NASCAR and ice hockey. Why not take that focus a step further by taking on the naming rights for Gampel? It’s a familiar face for UConn fans and if they’re looking for a company to be the face of a premier women’s basketball program and a top men’s basketball program amongst other sports that play at Gampel, it deserves to be a powerful company like Subway.
Cole Stefan
Senior Columnist
He/Him/His
Dairy Bar Dome
The Dairy Bar is to ice cream as Gampel Pavilion is to basketball at the University of Connecticut. The renowned ice cream shop, located next to Horsebarn Hill, is a popular place for students to go on campus and grab an ice-cold dessert. With most students living further west from the Dairy Bar, however, renaming the basketball capital of the world to the Dairy Bar Dome would give the university its most convenient store since Dairy Bar Too closed two years ago. One of the concession stands by the doors could be replaced with a Dairy Bar and serve ice cream throughout the entire basketball game, which may make students more inclined to stay when the game turns into a blowout. Even UConn alumni would enjoy the new name as it would bring back memories of when they were on campus eating the university’s homemade ice cream. Both the Dairy Bar and Gampel Pavilion are essential facilities, and uniting the two under one roof would create more revenue for the university and the athletic programs.
Jon Synott
Sports Editor
He/Him/His
Dunkin’ Donuts Center
Okay, hear me out. Nobody else is using this name, right? It’s been said that America runs on Dunkin’, and the coffee chain’s pull is pretty evident across campus. There are locations in both the Union and Storrs Center, with several other franchises up and down Routes 195 and 44. Dunkin’ is always there for UConn students, bringing cool events like Dunkin’ Winter Wonderland to campus and providing random iced latte samples outside the Union. When it’s gameday for our men’s and women’s basketball teams, it seems more often than not that Dunkin is outside of Gampel, handing out free promo gift cards and displaying ice sculptures of Jonathan the Husky. The company already does so much promotion on campus, why not take it one step further and get the naming rights to Gampel Pavilion? Dunkin’ has naming rights and branded locations inside the AA baseball stadium in Hartford, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to expand further and help out the university in the process.
Sam Calhoun
Campus Correspondent
he/him/his
The Daily Campus Center
I know, it seems biased, right? You may wonder if newspapers even buy naming rights to arenas. Amalie Arena, home to the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, was known as the St. Pete Times Forum from 2002 to 2012, then the Tampa Bay Times Forum from 2012-2014. In Albany, MVP Arena was called Times Union Center, as in the newspaper, from 2007-2021. Who says The Daily Campus, the best student-run college newspaper around, can’t take the naming rights? Then there would be no games without the newspapers during the opposing teams’ introductions, because that has happened occasionally this season. Plus, imagine how beneficial that would be for The Daily Campus. Not a single article would go without at least 1000 views online.
