Pictured: Eric Romer, about to catch a touchdown pass on a slant route in the end zone?  Suit him up, Dungy.... he looks ready.

So, I had the opportunity to tour Lucas Oil stadium last weekend, and it was a pretty amazing sight.  As a Colts fan, this is like Christmas.  The excitement in Indianapolis has been building ever since Lucas Oil broke ground.  Despite some disputes about funding of the project, this beautiful structure has a serious allure to it. 

One of the things I kept hearing during the public tour was people referring to the stadium as "The Luke".  I must admit, it was pretty catchy, and fans love putting their own nickname to personalize their city's new baby.  But as you would imagine, the sponsor is not so happy about the nickname.

I've always been curious how you measure the worth of a stadium sponsorship. Spending $122 million on naming rights for 20 years is no cheap purchase, even for a large manufacturer of oil products.  I hear about the ROI of advertising dollars all the time, but this I think stadium sponsorships in general fall into what Corporate Blogging expert Debbie Weil describes as "Return on Influence".  It's next to impossible to measure sales that directly result from Lucas Oil Stadium, especially when people refer to it as "The Luke".  Forest Lucas was quoted in an IBJ article saying:

"Calling the stadium 'The Luke' doesn’t sell a dime’s worth of products for us.  This will be a place we intend to show Lucas Oil to the world, so we’re eager to protect the integrity of the name.”

I get Mr. Lucas's frustration, but there's not a whole lot you can do when something catchy spreads with fans, especially as sports columnist Mark Rosentraub stated in the article, "exposure through the Internet can spread the nickname and entrench it in people’s minds even faster than traditional media." 

My suggestion?  You can't beat 'em, join 'em.  Find a a way to ride the "Luke" wave, and join the conversation.  Social media, affordable blogging software and other web-based tools allow you to be present, and help drive those internet trends.

Despite the nickname concern, the sponsorship "engagement" (2008's buzz word) that occurs inside the stadium, interacting with the Lucas Oil brand experience, the dragsters, race-car simulators, etc. is very creative and sets a new precedent in sports marketing.