This High-Sticking Brought to you by Pampers

How does this sound? The Sears Statue of Liberty. The AT&T; Lincoln Memorial. The Goldman Sachs Grand Canyon. Jarring?

Perhaps you can sense the public reaction in 1973 when the Buffalo Bills became one of the first sports franchises to sell a corporation the right to name a sports venue. For $1.5 million over 25 years, Rich Products Corp. gave us Rich Stadium.

It hardly started a trend. By 1988 just two other sports sites had corporate monikers and, mercifully, the one in Los Angeles at least sounded like more than the clunky welding of two dissonant purposes: It became the Great Western Forum (for $17.8 million over 15 years).

Then came the 1990s. From airlines to brewers, auto makers to banks, more than 50 companies have paid some $2 billion for naming rights. At the time of the 1997 Staples Center deal, the $116 million over 20 years for naming rights dwarfed all previous arrangements, including a reported $19.5 million over 13 years by Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water for the Pond of Anaheim and $50 million over 20 years by Edison International for Anaheim Stadium. One deal has since surpassed the Staples Center’s: American Airlines will pay $195 million over 30 years in Dallas to have its name attached to what will be the new home of the Dallas Mavericks and Stars.