Last week, I embarked on what should have been a peaceful nighttime walk back to my dorm. Most unfortunately, I was met with a fluorescent atrocity marring the University of Connecticut’s iconic basketball pavilion. Two words: M&T Bank.
On Oct. 21, the University of Connecticut entered into a deal with M&T Bank. M&T is now UConn’s exclusive banking partner and gains naming rights to the iconic Gampel pavilion in exchange for $32.5 million dollars over 20 years.
Do I think anyone is going to bother to use the full name of “M&T Bank at Gampel Pavilion?”
Absolutely not.
Do I think it’s a poor investment despite the fact that everyone’s going to keep saying “Gampel”?
Absolutely.
The principle of the “basketball capital of the world” selling out is, put simply, is laughable. Slapping the name of a bank on the front of our campus’s primary landmark sounds like something out of a satirical film trying overly hard to symbolize corporations tarnishing all we hold dear. “Look, kids! A bank is putting its name on the basketball stadium and everyone is unhappy! Corporations corrupt!”
The primary response from UConn fans is largely along the sentiment of “I’m not calling it that” — check the comments on The Daily Campus’s Instagram reel regarding the situation if you want a laugh. Like my comment while you’re at it (or don’t, I don’t care).
The backlash from the UConn community has been heartening; colloquialisms largely dictate public perception and reference, so Gampel can remain just that (no M&T necessary) in the public consciousness. Still, the pavilion’s new name is impossible to ignore, try as we might. Every basketball game is essentially an advertisement for the bank.
Basketball is integral to the UConn community; Gampel is its home base and now it’s tarnished by the name of a corporation that had a lackluster part in shaping our athletics program. Even if fans refuse to call the stadium anything but Gampel, this newly branded presence is a capitalistic inescapability.
Do you want to attend a UConn basketball game at our home stadium this semester? Prepare to walk into a stadium proclaiming the name of a bank before the name of a generous alumnus and donor who helped shape our athletics program. Prepare for conversation surrounding the very name of the stadium rather than the athletes themselves. Attention is being drawn away from the athletes and staff who’ve worked tirelessly in favor of a company that’s done nothing but toss cash at the program from afar.
This rebranding is plainly concerning from an economic standpoint. Of course, we’ve seen our university sell out before. We’ve seen research facilities funded by defense companies perpetuating genocide, departmental budget cuts and research grant terminations. As of June, the university faced a monetary deficit of over $83 million. Of course, the money to repair that deficit has to come from somewhere, but a mere $32.5 million dollars (about a third of the $99.4 million spent on Gampel’s renovations) reads like a particularly stupid decision.
Gampel is smack in the middle of campus — inescapable if you live on a hilltop dorm and have to walk past it every day — and draws hundreds of fans from outside of campus with every game. If our university is willing to draw backlash from nearly the entire community by renaming campus’s most iconic landmark for a few million dollars, what’s next on the chopping block?
“This partnership with UConn represents more than a sponsorship and a name on a building,” said Michael Weinstock, the Hartford Regional President for M&T Bank. “It’s a shared commitment to the future of education, economic mobility and civic leadership across our region. Gampel Pavilion is one of the most recognizable and meaningful gathering places in Connecticut, and M&T is honored to now be a part of the legacy made possible by Harry A. Gampel.”
How much of a “commitment to the future of education” can M&T Bank truly have? Is this sponsorship anything more than a chance to align with our beloved basketball capital of the world?
Only time will tell.