Sommet Center To Become Bridgestone Arena

[jdavidf 81]

Don't know how I missed this -- but seems pretty big.. and really, doesn't Bridgestone Arena appear to make more sense than Sommet Center? I mean, Sommet is a nice name, but the whole world knows who Bridgestone is.

WSMV

Tire Review

Bridgestone spokesperson: "...Nashville is where we live and this community is very important to us, and we want to make sure we can do everything we can to help secure the health and economic well being of the community here in Nashville.”

David

[nashvillwill 1235]

As a Hockey fan, i'm pretty happy about this. I hope it will facilitate minor improvements to the arena. Also, every citizen of Nashville should be pleased as well. This puts a recognizable name on our most visible venue. The arena management is doing a good job of scheduling more non-hockey events than Leipold ever did, which is good for the revenue of the arena by filling empty days. If anyone has been watching the SEC tournament this weekend, i'm sure you've been as pleased as i have by how nice the place looks.

Bridgestone is a major corporate name, and has been a big sponsor of the NHL, such as the flagship sponsor of the Winter Classic. Bridgestone is a local company, which is nice.

I'm sure people around the country will now have a better understanding of this venue than when it was named something that was often mispronounced.

Also, Bridgestone signed a 5 year contract which will be the longest tenured sponsor of the arena. Hopefully naming rights extensions will follow that period.