Disney has entered a partnership with Melbourne Stadiums Limited for exclusive naming rights to a sports venue in Melbourne Australia. The Docklands Stadium, currently referred to as the Etihad Stadium will receive the Marvel re-brand as of September 1st. The venue normally stages sporting events with crowd capacity reaching well over 50,000. The name-change doesn't entail a drastic overhaul of the venue's layout, Disney has only secured rights to the name on a temporary basis and nothing more.
The Senior VP of Walt Disney in Australia, Kylie Watson-Wheeler, shared her excitement in a press release. She said "Australian fans are amongst the most passionate in the world and through our partnership with MSL, we hope to bring people together, and provide them with a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the Marvel brand." The rest of her spiel included a breakdown of why Marvel and Sporting in Melbourne were a natural fit. It goes without saying, that a business proposition such as this one, doesn't need a glossy finish. The Marvel Universe is totally "fake", and product placement is "real," so let's not make this out to be anything more than a realistic proposal. The City of Melbourne can do with the extra cash in its pocket, but that's only if public interest is consolidated.