Nothing is immune to the insidious tendrils of corporate influence. Not even Philadelphia’s hallowed cathedral of college basketball.

The Palestra is no longer the Palestra. Sort of. The naming rights were sold to a global financial group called “Macquarie,” which apparently has an American headquarters in Philly.

Penn alum Jon Tannenwald, who I’m 99.9% sure hates this move, wrote about it for the Inquirer:

“It’s a multiyear deal that will boost the Penn basketball teams’ budgets, and boost a range of community service programs that the athletic department runs. Athletic director Grace Calhoun wouldn’t disclose the amount of money changing hands, or the exact length of the deal, but she did call it “far and away the largest sponsorship Penn athletics has entered into, and one that we feel is really going to visibly change the way we’re able to sponsor our programs.”

I guess the building itself is still going to be called “The Palestra,” you’re just going to see the branding on the court and public address announcers will use the verbiage, “Macquarie Court at the Palestra.”

Pics after the jump:


Personally, I think this is pretty much “whatever,” since everything has a corporate name attached to it now.

But I’ll let you decide:

[yop_poll id=”7″]