First, it was Coca-Cola Starplex. Then, just Starplex. After that, Smirnoff Music Centre. Now the Fair Park amphitheater has a new sponsor and an even longer name: Superpages.com Center.
Try saying that five times fast.
Officials from the Dallas-based search site and California-based Live Nation announced the change Wednesday in a news conference at House of Blues. Live Nation operates more than 100 music venues worldwide, including the House of Blues chain and Superpages.com Center.
Superpages.com officials admit the new name is a tongue twister.
"It starts to get a little lengthy, but we wanted the dot-com to be in there," said spokeswoman Robyn Rose. "You want your product to be known."
Superpages.com Center isn't the only venue in town with a mouthful of a name. American Airlines Center ("the AAC" to some) doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, nor does the 11-syllable Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center (alias "the Meyerson").
So what will concertgoers call the newly named theater? "The SPC?" "The SP.Com?" Or maybe just "The Pages?" Your guess is as good as anyone's.
The outdoor theater, which is owned by the city, opened in 1988 as Coca-Cola Starplex. Coke's sponsorship expired in 1998, and the 20,000-capacity theater was simply called Starplex until 2000, when the vodka distillery Smirnoff bought the eight-year naming rights for $6 million.
The vodka connection drew lots of complaints, including from then-Dallas City Council member Leo Chaney, who later got Smirnoff to donate $3.8 million for South Dallas social improvement projects.
The new name isn't likely to stir up any controversy. Superpages.com is a Web site for finding local phone numbers, addresses and Web sites. "We're a local search site, and going to a concert venue is a very local experience," said Ms. Rose. "The tie-in made sense."
Ms. Rose and Live Nation spokesman Bob Roux said their companies would not disclose how much Superpages.com paid for the naming rights or how long the contract lasts, though Ms. Rose did say it was a "multiyear" deal. Fair Park General Manager Daniel Huerta also declined to discuss the details.
"I don't have the specifics to the terms of the sponsorship agreement as it's a contract between the tenant and their sponsor," he wrote in an e-mail.
20 YEARS OF NAMES
Fair Park's outdoor amphitheater has morphed in name several times since opening 20 years ago.
1988-98: Coca-Cola Starplex
1999: Starplex
2000-07: Smirnoff Music Centre
2008: Superpages.com Center
