With American Airlines’s ownership of the naming rights to the Miami Heat’s stadium coming to an end this year, adult entertainment company Bang Bros have reportedly bid $10 million to rename the Miami Heat’s stadium the “Bang Bros Colosseum” or “BBC.”
The Miami-based pornographic filmmaking company announced their interest in the naming rights on Twitter.
“With Pat Riley at the helm, working his magic like he has in the past, Bang Bros feels they need to show their support for the next wave of winning to come and give back to the city that’s treated them so well,” the Bang Bros twitter post said. “Both the Heat and Bang Bros have become staples of the city, with huge fans of each. It doesn’t get more Miami than having the arena sponsored by Bang Bros.”
This is not the first time a porn company has attempted to sponsor a sports team. Another well-known company and pornographic website, Pornhub, has already sponsored several teams around the world including an American softball team, an Irish street basketball team and an Australian women’s field hockey team. Pornhub announced in November of 2017 that they would join the likes of RedBull in sponsoring extreme sports teams.
In 2014, another pornographic website, YouPorn began sponsoring the esports Play2Win, which is based in Madrid, Spain.
Brad Burns, the vice president of YouPorn, said he is very excited to officially introduce themselves into the sports world.
“We’re so psyched to finally make our official entry into gaming and eSports,” Burns said. “This partnership has been a long time coming, and I believe that with our backing, along with the expertise that each member of Team YP brings to the table on the virtual battlefield, we can succeed in tearing through the competition.”
Jay Gilmore, a journalism professor at the University of Memphis, said he is not surprised that porn companies are now sponsoring sports teams.
“Obviously, that industry is much more widely accepted than it was maybe thirty years ago, so maybe that gives them the confidence to try to make some of these deals,” Gilmore said.
Gilmore also said the Miami Heat and Bang Bros are not a very good match.
“I think when you put those two together, I don’t know how much business sense that makes for the Miami Heat,” Gilmore said. “They have two different consumers, so I’m just not sure those two businesses will align.”
Corbin Haynes, a University of Memphis student, said teams sponsored by companies such as Bang Bros could have their image negatively affected and he would be concerned if any UofM sports stadium was ever sponsored by such a company.
“It would be pretty funny, but at the same time it’d be a little ridiculous,” Haynes said. “Whoever the rights are sold to are by extension tied to us.”
Another UofM student, Kendall Bell, said it would be inappropriate for a porn company to sponsor the Liberty Bowl stadium if the naming rights were ever sold.
“I just don’t think that’s appropriate because this is a school,” Bell said. “I think some people might not want to come here just because they don’t agree with that, so there might be less students wanting to come here.”
