Conseco Fieldhouse is Now...Bankers Life Fieldhouse

[TruColor]

This just happened today...since Conseco was bought out by CNO Financial a couple of years ago, a name change was inevitable.

Here's the story, along with the new logo:

http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/bankers_life_fieldhouse.html

[zinman11121]

Blah blah, it's still Conseco to me.

[The_Admiral]

Bankers Life is one of those companies that calls you whenever you sign up for CareerBuilder et al., and then tries to hector you into some seminar about how to sell life insurance to old people. This is basically as bad as the Arco Arena being renamed for magic bracelets.

[tBBP]

Well, downtown Indy's already in the midst of a major renovation...what more would it be to change all the signage on the Fieldhouse?

[BigMac12]

It will take some adjusting calling it anyting other than Conseco Fieldhouse.

I have been to the fieldhouse for one Pacer game one spring break many years ago. It's one great arena.

[Breakwood]

Bankers Life is one of those companies that calls you whenever you sign up for CareerBuilder et al., and then tries to hector you into some seminar about how to sell life insurance to old people. This is basically as bad as the Arco Arena being renamed for magic bracelets.

Doesnt Orlando play in the Pyramid Scheme Arena?

[TruColor]

It will take some adjusting calling it anyting other than Conseco Fieldhouse.

I have been to the fieldhouse for one Pacer game one spring break many years ago. It's one great arena.

As big of a Pacers fan as I am (I go back to the ABA days), I can't believe I still haven't been to a game there.

Went to many games at Market Square Arena...was even there for the grand opening of MSA (amazingly, a Glen Campbell concert way back in '74).

[crashcarson15]

Well, downtown Indy's already in the midst of a major renovation...what more would it be to change all the signage on the Fieldhouse?

You could say that again. Hell, the logo for the Super Bowl should've just been an orange cone with "XLVI" on it.

[pmoehrin]

As someone who used to pride themselves on being able to name every single stadium and arena in all four major pro sports, I gave up on trying to keep up with name changes about two years ago. I just can't keep up with a name change happening once every four months and its never anything creative its just (Insert bank company name here) Arena/Stadium.

This also marks the 12 current NBA arena that has gone under more then one name since opening. You know how many active arenas in 1991 had gone under more then one name? One, and that was The Forum changing to The Great Western Forum.

I'll give them credit for at least keeping the Fieldhouse name. EnergySolutions Arena sounds like it could be located in Rockford, Des Moines, Akron or San Diego. Why don't they just call a place like that company name anyone outside the state has never heard of with a vague description of what they do in the name arena.

[Funky Bunky]

I don't get it, what's the significance of this?

[tBBP]

Well, downtown Indy's already in the midst of a major renovation...what more would it be to change all the signage on the Fieldhouse?

You could say that again. Hell, the logo for the Super Bowl should've just been an orange cone with "XLVI" on it.

Well, to be fair, INDOT is almost done with that whole "Accelerate 465" project--they've finished up the stretch of westside 465 from I-70 upt to I-74...now they just gotta finish up from 74 up to the 865 junction. And on another note, have you seen what else is going on on the beltway? They're putting up travel time signs and the whole nine...they are REALLY trying to blow Indy up. Though, I still don't understand the purpose of the city tearing up Georgia Avenue downtown to do what they did to it...not understanding the purpose of that...whatever it is.

(And since we're talking construction, and only because I know about it...you Indy-area denizens might do well to know that SR-37 from just south of 465 on down to Evansville is soon due to be redesignated as--wait for it--I-69. INDOT's already busy at work rebuilding the rest of the highway down south Indiana.)

Okay, now back to the Fieldhouse discussion...

[BBTV]

I don't get it, what's the significance of this?

I guess there really isn't one, unless you live in Indy or are a fan of the team. Just like the countless other name changes that take place. Witha name change usually comes a new logo, so it's relevant from that perspective.

My thoughts on arena names come from when I was a kid in the '80s. I didn't have cable and could only see Sixers road games (home games were on pay TV) so I kind of associated teams with their arenas. Here's my view of what the "natural" names should be for each team's arena (based SOLELY on what I remember them being as a kid). So basically, if I ever got one of those "I'm still calling it - " shirts, these would be the names on it:

PHI - Spectrum

NYK - MSG

NJ - Brendan Byrne

BOS - Boston Garden

WAS - Cap Centre

MIL - Mecca (I don't even know if they still played there or if it was Bradley Center yet, but I always called it the Mecca)

DET - The Palace

CHI - Chicago Stadium

IND - I guess it was Market Square, but I don't think I ever really knew what it was called

ATL - Omni

CLE - Richfield Coliseum

HOU - Summit

DEN - ? (EDIT - looked it up, it was McNichols.)

DAL - ?

UTAH - Delta Center

SAC - Arco

SA - No idea (I know they played in Alamo Dome, but I never saw them play when I was a kid so I don't know where they played at that time.)

LAL - Forum

LAC - Sports Arena

PHX - ?

POR - ?

GS - ?

[RyanB06]

Dallas was Reunion Arena. San Antonio was the Hemisfair Arena.

I think both Phoenix and Portland were some form of "Veterans Memorial Coliseum", and Oakland was "Oakland Coliseum Arena".

[BBTV]

I should've remembered Reunion Arena. Duh.

[BigMac12]

Dallas was Reunion Arena. San Antonio was the Hemisfair Arena.

I think both Phoenix and Portland were some form of "Veterans Memorial Coliseum", and Oakland was "Oakland Coliseum Arena".

Phoenix's old venue wss the "Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum."

[crashcarson15]

Well, downtown Indy's already in the midst of a major renovation...what more would it be to change all the signage on the Fieldhouse?

You could say that again. Hell, the logo for the Super Bowl should've just been an orange cone with "XLVI" on it.

Well, to be fair, INDOT is almost done with that whole "Accelerate 465" project--they've finished up the stretch of westside 465 from I-70 upt to I-74...now they just gotta finish up from 74 up to the 865 junction. And on another note, have you seen what else is going on on the beltway? They're putting up travel time signs and the whole nine...they are REALLY trying to blow Indy up. Though, I still don't understand the purpose of the city tearing up Georgia Avenue downtown to do what they did to it...not understanding the purpose of that...whatever it is.

(And since we're talking construction, and only because I know about it...you Indy-area denizens might do well to know that SR-37 from just south of 465 on down to Evansville is soon due to be redesignated as--wait for it--I-69. INDOT's already busy at work rebuilding the rest of the highway down south Indiana.)

Okay, now back to the Fieldhouse discussion...

Well, it seems like every other street downtown is under construction too. But yeah, it'll be interesting to see when those signs start working though. Also, no :censored:ing clue why they did that down at Georgia Street. Hell, on the north side, every stop sign's gonna be a roundabout soon enough. Gotta deal with orange barrels up here too.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how long it takes 'em to get the I-69 project done down south. And wait for them to renumber the exits here north of 465. That'll be fun to relearn.

[slapshot]

BOS - Boston Garden

People can try to reminisce and call the new building "The Garden", but it's not. The Garden had overhanging balconies, press boxes that located almost directly over team benches, court-level scoreboards, obstructed view seats, and the stench of urine in the hallways.

The new arena has none of that. Granted, times change, and our level of hygiene has evolved as well, but the new building is the same cookie-cutter type arena as other cities around the country at the time. As techno-friendly as it is, filled with modern amenities, it's not "The Garden", and never will be.

I still call it FleetCenter, it's the first name that comes to my mind.

When it was opened in 1996, it was supposed to be called the Shawmut Center. Shawmut bank of Boston was bought out by Fleet Bank of Boston/Providence.

In 2004, Fleet merged with Bank of America. But BOA didn't want the naming rights to the building, probably due to other non-sports buildings around the country named Bank of America Center, or BOA Stadium in Charlotte. So the rights went to TD Banknorth.

TD Banknorth Garden was a clunky name, no matter how much the company was happy it brought the "Garden" name back. Eventually it was shorted to TD Garden.

The TD Banknorth Garden was also similar ti the TD Waterhouse Centre in Orlando (the O-Rena).

Either way, since opening in 1996, the building has has 2 1/2 names. But I still call it by the original one without even thinking.

[BigEd76]

Only 2.5? Ours in Philly has had four different names since opening in 1996: CoreStates Center, First Union Center (1998), Wachovia Center (2003) and Wells Fargo Center (2010)

[OMMF]

And, of course, the Seattle Center Coliseum.

[tBBP]

Well, downtown Indy's already in the midst of a major renovation...what more would it be to change all the signage on the Fieldhouse?

You could say that again. Hell, the logo for the Super Bowl should've just been an orange cone with "XLVI" on it.

Well, to be fair, INDOT is almost done with that whole "Accelerate 465" project--they've finished up the stretch of westside 465 from I-70 upt to I-74...now they just gotta finish up from 74 up to the 865 junction. And on another note, have you seen what else is going on on the beltway? They're putting up travel time signs and the whole nine...they are REALLY trying to blow Indy up. Though, I still don't understand the purpose of the city tearing up Georgia Avenue downtown to do what they did to it...not understanding the purpose of that...whatever it is.

(And since we're talking construction, and only because I know about it...you Indy-area denizens might do well to know that SR-37 from just south of 465 on down to Evansville is soon due to be redesignated as--wait for it--I-69. INDOT's already busy at work rebuilding the rest of the highway down south Indiana.)

Okay, now back to the Fieldhouse discussion...

Well, it seems like every other street downtown is under construction too. But yeah, it'll be interesting to see when those signs start working though. Also, no :censored:ing clue why they did that down at Georgia Street. Hell, on the north side, every stop sign's gonna be a roundabout soon enough. Gotta deal with orange barrels up here too.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how long it takes 'em to get the I-69 project done down south. And wait for them to renumber the exits here north of 465. That'll be fun to relearn.

I do not know what that's about, either. I do know there was much vehement discussion about that over on the city-data.com forums (for those of you who know about those), particularly the one they're planning on putting dead in the middle of Carmel on US-31. Maybe someone just likes the idea of a giant circle in the middle of their town...but the thing is, 67-foot-long combo vehiclesI have difficulty fitting through those, and until more people learn the correct way to negotiate a traffic circle to begin with (and folk in Indiana already can't drive worth a s***--I'm sorry, but they can't), I see that, any any/every other circle as being a set-up for failure i.e. recipe for disaster.

As for downtown...I know they're doing a lot of what they're doing down there and around the city in advance of/because of the Super Bowl, but if they don't hurry it up, Indianapolis will never see another Super Bowl again, I don't care how many solid-glass JW Marriotts they build down by the Canal District, or anywhere else in downtown, for that matter. They're currently in the process of tearing up Delaware Street, which, as you know, north of South Street fronts one side of, or rather, runs across the back of, Conseco Bankers Life Fieldhouse. It's also a primary way into downtown for those coming from the south side via 31/East/Madison (like me). I guess Indy should be thankful that aside from the monument (which I believe they're done doing whatever they were doing to that now), most of what there is to see in downtown Indy is over in the southwest quad, away from most of the construction. (Of course, most of the clubs/bars are right there one street away from Lucas Oil on Meridian, which itself is one street over from the aforementioned Delaware Street, and folk WILL find their way over there.) For as much as a "cosmopolitan crown jewel" Mitchy-Poo n' em (Gov. Daniels) not to mention the new city mayor are trying to tout the city of Indianapolis as, I'm sure the last image of the city they want burned into anyone's heads is orange barrels to the left, orange barrels to the doggone right.

And to bring this back around to the re-named Fieldhouse, at least that new logo CWx posted above matches the color of the interior now. (For those who've never been inside there, it really is a very nice building, pretty fun to run around and get lost in during Brigade PT, as well.)