Here we don’t—Bud Light refused naming rights for amphitheater.

With Alex’s call for a responsibility award, I might have to nominate North Carolina’s State Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission. Not that I dig more government regulation, but finally, someone actually cited protection of youth as a reason not to approve a potentially lucrative deal involving a major brand. The mayor of Raleigh says they’re a 21st century city and that a beer name for a stadium is acceptable. The problem becomes though, what about pro stadiums like Coors Field where the Rockies play? Are Colorado kids *less* important than Raleigh kids? If you’re going to get into issues of protecting kids from exposure to beer or spirits-related advertising, then you can’t just do it locally in one place and not in another.

Look at the nation’s legal drinking age. (The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 set it at 21.) With rare exception, it covers every state. So in terms of stadium names and the idea of protection on a national level, what happened in Raleigh could scale to include the banning of any pro sport from associating with a beer or spirit, no? Relax, I’m not saying ban beer; you’ll still get to drink the overpriced mediocrity posing as suds in all your favorite ballparks.

Just consider that maybe every place doesn’t have to have a beer name on it.