No more home games at the Telstra Dome!!!
NOW, we will call our home ground Etihad Stadium. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24540298-661,00.html?referrer=email Etihad Airways new AFL Telstra Dome naming rights sponsor Article from: Herald Sun Sam Edmund October 23, 2008 11:59am FOOTY fans will have to get their tongues around a new name for Telstra Dome after a major new naming deal was signed today. United Arab Emirates airline Etihad Airways was today named as the new naming rights sponsor for the ground and immediately announced a name change effective from March. The Docklands venue will be known as the Etihad Stadium - a name ground boss Ian Collins said would take some getting used to. ''It might take footy fans a while to get used to saying Etihad Stadium,'' Mr Collins said. ''But not too long, it'll soon become part of Melbourne's sporting vernacular.'' The airway is a major sponsor of British Premier League club Chelsea, the Ferrari racing team and English rugby union team Harlequins. The deal will run for five years with an option for a further five. The debut of the new name will coincide with the airline's first flight to Melbourne next March.

This was broken on the Melbourne Victory forums before it hit the main media today, but we were having a few jokes about this down at indoor soccer tonight. Will be a fun name to try and pronounce after a few drinks :)

From what i understand its pronounced Ethyhad, i could be wrong tho.

Doesn't exactly have the same ring to it, I think i'll just keep calling it "the dome"

Hopefully the Israelis blow the joint up.

Can't pronounce it, not going to bother trying hehe

Smells like a conflict of interest to me, with QANTAS being a major sponsor of the AFL. As for a nickname, "The Hangar" seems appropriate.

There's no conflict with the parties. Tel$tra Dome is run by Ian Collins whose responsibility is to maximise profits for his shareholders and ensure the longevity of the stadium. It doesn't matter if he pisses off the AFL because the AFL will eventually own the stadium. They can't and won't abandon it. The AFL's only leverage is shifting more games to the MCG. Demetriou is rightly pissed off but he has no power in this deal. The bigger issue here would be the impact on Socceroos games. Seeing as Qantas are the major team sponsor and the fact that in all official releases it will say Qantas Socceroos, this is more of an impact. The next game will be at the MCG anyhow, but moving forward into the future the sponsors might have a thing or two to say about Qantas Socceroos games at Etihad Stadium.

Should be playing at Whitten Oval.

The Phone Dome has become the Flown Dome eh? hmmmmm