Bowl Games & Branding the Colosseum

To any brand marketer, putting your label on a bunch of stuff is simply good business. But now that the New Years' day (and beyond) football bowls have come and gone, you really can see what a crazed consumer-oriented society we are. It's not enough to see every part of every soccer jersey ablaze with every sort of sports moniker in existence, take a look at a Formula 1 car: you can hardly tell the car & driver from underneath the sheets of sticky labels.
But ever since Milan's concert venue started changing names from one bad business label to another, (and in Rome we now boast the ridiculously-named Palalottomatica), I knew we were on a slippery slope: Like a good European, I blame it on America.

Judging from the baptising of our prized bowl games, I don't think I was far off:

Utah played California in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
A gentleman's game was surely played in the Roady's Humanitarian bowl.
Air Force -vs - Navy was played in the very appropriate Armed Forces bowl, now named the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces bowl.
I have no idea why AT&T would sponsor the Cotton bowl (other than what's in their ears when it comes to customer complaints), but Tostitos struck gold when they picked up the Fiesta bowl.
And one day, I'd like to see the Little Caeser's teams battle it out with the Papajohns.com in a pizza bowl -- winner takes the dough (sorry, couldn't resist).

As Italy continues it's push for corporate sponsors of some of it's greatest monuments, I for one do not wish to live to see the day that we go to the Fendi Forum, or Pomodoro Rosso Pompei. As for the stadiums, they've all been taken (save the one I renamed above)...

But then again, as we Detroiters bemoan what had been the late great Pontiac Silverdome (home of the Detroit Lions), sold off to the highest bidder ... Maybe if they'd have found a sponsor and changed its name it would have outlasted the Pantheon.
Doubtful, but nice to think about, even though I can't bear to think of what it would have been called...