While watching some highlight's of Saturday's Bud Shootout in Daytona, Fla., Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s, new sponsor caught my eye.

The National Guard/Amp Energy Drink/Rally's/3M/EA Sports/MAC Tools/JEGs 2008 car started the season well-- a victory for Junior, but perhaps more so, a victory for the sponsors.

NASCAR is that predominant sport where sponsorship blankets the action.  Gambling sites pay for ad space on poker players shirts, hats and sometimes even bodies.  Heck, even the PBA has multiple sponsors during tournaments.

Can you blame some of these middle-tier sports for selling out? No.

Can you blame the top-tier?  I can try.

Take the NFL.  The Steelers move from Three Rivers Stadium to Heinz Field. The Redskins from Robert F. Kennedy Stadium to Fed Ex Field.  The Ravens considered naming their new stadium after Johnny Unitas, but settled for PSINet Stadium.  After the company tanked, it went back to Ravens Stadium--then to another top bidder: M&T Bank Stadium.

The drive for revenues in the business world is what causes this from the nostalgic to the pleonectic.

Colleges and universities are also guilty of this trend--most on the nostalgic end rather than the pleonectic.

Joan C. Edwards Stadium and James F. Edwards Field is the prime example.  But those are people--not companies.

Jacobs Field in Cleveland was a refreshing push in the opposite direction.  A new-era field with an old school name--named after Cleveland's one-time owner.

The new stadium was built adjacent to the city's NBA home, Gund Arena--named after the Cavalier's former owner.

Now: Quicken Loans Arena (formerly Gund) sits past left field outside Progressive Field (formerly Jacobs).

Renaming it "Progressive Field" is set to generate $3.6 million a year for the Indians.

Fans will likely still call it "The Jake," to remember a time when stadiums were named after humans rather than insurance companies.

As for Cleveland's baseball team's name, that's a different blog for a different date.