Last month, it was announced that U.S. Bank would not be re-upping its naming rights for Cincinnati's longtime riverfront arena.
Shortly after the announcement, the signs came down at U.S. Bank Arena and mass confusion ensued — until it gets a new naming sponsor, what were we to now call this large coliseum that has been a part of the Cincinnati skyline since 1975?
Concerts were still being announced for the venue and there is a full slate of Cyclones hockey games on the schedule, but how were Cincinnatians supposed to make plans to go somewhere that has no name?
Were we to pretend it was the Disco era and put on our bellbottoms and platform shoes and ask friends, "We still gonna boogie down at the Jonas Brothers at Riverfront Coliseum this week?"? Or act as if we've flashed back to ye olde turn of the century — "Pardon me, m'aam, but may I have the honor of escorting you to a Cyclones match at yonder Firstar Center?"
We here at CityBeat have felt your pain and confusion during this uncertain time.
Less than a week after it was announced that U.S. Bank was pulling its name off of the venue, we posted a blog about tickets going on sale for a forthcoming concert at the arena. Since we dared to still refer to it as "U.S. Bank Arena," we were instantly shamed as idiots on social media by very smart people who saw on the news that the signs had come down.
We heard your concerns and attempted to adapt by calling it "the venue formerly known as U.S. Bank Arena," but this too seemed to cause confusion. Did this mean that the Jonas Brothers were formerly playing at U.S. Bank Arena but were now performing somewhere else?!
Alas, this week we found the solution to our quandary where most great, big-picture problems are solved these days — on Twitter.
When local WVXU reporter Bill Rinehart posted a photo of the aforementioned Jonas Brothers' tour busses parked beneath the arena this past Wednesday and was tentative about what to call the venue ("The Jonas Brothers are playing at __ ____ _____ tonight," he wrote), U.S. Bank Arena itself chimed in.
While the fact that all of its online branding still blared "U.S. Bank Arena" hinted that perhaps we still could just refer to it by the name it's been known for 17 years, the arena's Twitter account finally gave official permission to do just that.
Why not just go to the source? We are transitioning to a new name but it is not an overnight process. Signs coming down was just step one. Until we announce our new name we are still U.S. Bank Arena. Stay tuned!
— Heritage Bank Center (@HeritageBankCtr) September 11, 2019
Our (weeks') long civic nightmare is over! It's "U.S. Bank Arena" until you hear otherwise. Carry on.
