Saturday: Figure-8 School Bus Racing, Sunday: Colts vs. Titans

Lucas Oil Products announced last week that it has acquired the naming rights to the new Indianapolis Colts stadium under construction next to the RCA Dome. It’s an unheard-of 20-year-deal worth over $120 million, and is one of the five richest naming deals in the NFL.

I’ll admit to a little bit of skepticism at first about the deal; I really thought that Lucas Oil was strictly a niche product not unlike Milano cookies or VW Jettas or some such. Wasn’t really sure how they were going to afford $6 million a year for 20 years, especially since I figured their revenue was somewhere in the low six digits. After all, Lucas Oil sponsors programs on Speed Channel that reach maybe 100,000 people, including a weekly program called “Lucas Oil On The Edge.” During the lean racing months in the winter, the program shows offbeat racing stuff, like the true Sport of Kings: figure-8 school bus racing. Chew on that one for a little while and consider how, exactly, they were going to afford naming rights on an NFL stadium; this isn't Tri-State Speedway, this is Big Time Sports.

As it turns out, Lucas Oil Products are really quite popular! Apparently, the founder of Lucas Oil - a southern Indiana native, no less! - has built a better mousetrap. (Or, in this case, created a better motor oil and other related products. The guy is building motorcycles now because Harley-Davidson challenged him to do so – wow!)

Once I heard the details, I became less offended and upset about the deal – the owner is, after all, a multimillionaire, and he earned his wealth through his own sweat and hard work; he’s not someone who just happened to be in the work force for three years and was at the right place/right time like so many Internet millionaires.

(The locals, however, are less than pleased about the deal.)

It’s certainly a better deal than signing away the rights to some bank or Internet concern – the bank would probably merge with someone else about 12 times over before the end of the deal, while the Internet site would probably roll off the tongue like Kryzewzski. Still, I won’t be deterred – in 2028, after the Lucas rights expire, I will submit a proposal for the Colts’ approval for Brambletamble.blogspot.com Stadium; this gives me roughly 22 years to get the cash together for the deal, so click on the advertisers above early and often!