Just when we’d started to forget the entire rigamarole about getting the new stadium for the Nationals, we get today’s Post article on the lucrative sale of its naming rights. It’s not so much that we should be surprised that the stadium may be named after a corporation — it’s that the District won’t see a penny of the money that the chosen corporation splashes all over the publicly financed $611 million project. Reads the article:

The District government is building the Nationals a new stadium in Southeast Washington, and the facility is scheduled to open in April 2008. Under the agreement that Major League Baseball reached with the District, the ballclub is entitled to all of the revenue from the naming rights to the stadium.

The provision was opposed by some local politicians, who said the city should receive any naming rights revenue. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), the stadium’s main backer, said the naming rights were an important incentive for persuading baseball to locate a franchise in Washington and attract a buyer.

Apparently a fully funded stadium isn’t incentive enough these days. Hmph.

Beyond the indignation one might feel over this slight, it’s worth talking about what we’d like to see the stadium called. While corporate names dominate almost all major sports arenas and stadiums these days — to the tune of $3.6 billion, up from a mere $25 million in 1988 — should the District advocate for a name that recognizes and celebrates the city’s history? When rumors briefly flew in early 2005 that RFK Stadium might also take on a corporate name, local activists frantically raised money to buy the rights to call it “Taxation Without Representation Field at RFK Stadium.” Their plan didn’t come to pass, but they had the right idea — why not buck the trend and use the stadium to honor a person, place, or theme that unites District residents instead of pitching a product or service?

Well, it’s worth imagining, at least. Short of Ted Lerner being bit by the charitable bug, we’ll likely be walking into “(Insert Corporate Name Here) Stadium” come 2008.