L.A. officials tout new Farmers Field stadium. Do you like the name?

It seemed all the Los Angeles power brokers -- the mayor as well as sports legends -- were out in force as AEG made its stadium naming-rights announcement Tuesday.

Los Angeles Times reporter Lance Pugmire described it as a "pep rally," full of "self-congratulatory speeches" and lofty vows to bring football back to L.A.

The new retractable-roof stadium, they announced, will be called Farmers Field, part of a $700-million deal with Farmers Insurance.

"We're a united front, and this is what we can do now," Magic Johnson said.

Public money? Not "one dime," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and AEG Chief Executive Tim Leiweke promised.

Traffic jams? "Nonsense, false," a transportation official said.

What do you think? Do you like the new stadium name, Farmers Field? Do you believe the AEG team can really bring football back to L.A. for the first time since 1994? Give us your thoughts below.

-- Kimi Yoshino

Photo: Farmers Insurance and AEG announce new Farmers Field naming-rights deal to great fanfare. After the announcement, Farmers Insurance executive Paul Patsis poses with cheerleaders. Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

Comments

[BLM]

Dumb Dumb Dumb....when was the last time anybody saw a farm in Downtown LA. Plus, this will end up being another LA boondoggle, because the fans out here just don't support a football team, in enough numbers, to keep it here. The only ones who will make money is Anschutz and his political cronies.

[Heisenberg]

I don't like any corporate names for sports arenas. What ever happened to cool, clever names?? The Forum? The Garden? "Farmer's Field" just makes me think of smarmy insurance agents.

[Craig]

The name should have been Farmers Insurance Field. Farmers Field does not have a good reing to it or visual.

[J.Thur]

I love how mayor antonio, can get involved with AEG to bring a new stadium to LA, but can't seem to fix our kids schools in LA. Kind of shows where everyones priorities lie!

[West Valley Dave]

I wonder how clients of Farmers Insurance will feel when their rates are jacked up massively to fund this?

[Astonished]

Yeah, this is just great! Traffic isn't hellish enough getting into and out of downtown as it is. And, of course the biggest tax dodger in the area gets to build again without paying any of their arrearages! Just so long as the mayor gets his mug on television!

[Gus]

Farmers field is ok if Los Angeles was in the midwest, we haven't had a farm in the city limits in decades. Its a stupid name after all this is the home of Hollywood where imagination and new ideas are abundant. Insurance companies lack imagination. Theirs is a world of insurance agents and accountants.Please think of a better name that truly represents the City of Los Angeles and not the name of some dull insurance company.

[skyharbor]

First things first. Lets get Dodger Stadium renamed Vin Scully Stadium. Long overdue.

[Franklin]

I am not ready to buy the farm or this eco-destroying monstosity of a stadium.
save the planet! Watch out for Anschutz and his political cronie's silver bullets!

[wildone]

Perfect name for Bakersfield.

[Bill Daras]

Will the name last?

Remember the Boston Garden? The new one opened in 1995 and has had 33 different names bestowed upon it thus far thanks to corporate mergers and the like.

[Observor]

Farmers?
How about Hicks' Field?

[Scott Anderson]

"Traffic jams? "Nonsense, false,"...give me a break traffic is already a nightmare if anything is going on in that area, Lakers, USC, Dodgers etc. Ok maybe not for the Clippers but...

Also re no public money - essentially a lie. I would bet that they are not going to be paying market rates to have used of that land. That was the deal with the Staples Center and I'm sure it's another reach around for the moneyed interests of this city. If the city is getting into the business of subsidizing private business I've got a few projects I'd like to get off the ground and some choice locations on the Westside I would like to get on the super cheap...let me know.

[Sam Knight]

Can't imagine what their going to name the team.

[boochie]

Do many Angelenos really care if a new football team was based here? We already have many sports teams not to mention so many other diversions that other cities don't offer. Also, I have a feeling that the taxpayers and or property owners are going to get stuck w/the bill for a new stadium.

[Grandpa]

Yes, I do like it. Since LA is a third-world country, the team that plays there should be named the Los Angeles Poppies.

[alex]

we are not in the SOUTH PLEASE WE ARE IN THE CITY OF ANGELS COME ON UNACCEPTABLE!!!

THANK YOU

[James Brown]

Can we just call it "The Farm"? Doesn't have to be literal to sound cool.

[Pavel L.]

Great job Farmers!! This is unbeleivable branding!

[JoeCalBear]

Farmers Field sounds pretty cheesy - maybe we can lure the Packers here. But do we really have to have an NFL team? And is it true that Villaraigosa will get complementary tickets to all games? And the most important question - will we have to support it with our tax dollars?

[joepen]

Horrible name! They'll be calling Angelenos "farmers" for decades to come.

[carl]

I would like to know how much that scum bag villarigosa is going to line his pockets with after completion of this deal. The city and it's councilman especially janice hahn and jan perry are a bunch of liars and thugs. The city needs to get rid of these high paid incompetent council people and put in people that are going to do what's right for the taxpayer and not themselves. How can they stand up in front of a camera and say that public funds are not going to be used and that this project will not affect traffic in anyway. How about using your time to fix the citys budget, starting off by cutting the city councils pay in half, like other major cities councils make. Take away all the city issued cars and cell phones and all these bogus discresionary accounts that they have.

[dave]

All I can say is, do some research into the stadium Paul Allen conned Seattle/King County into building for the Seahawks, so he wouldn't take the team somewhere else. He claimed HE was going to pay for it, naturally. He was reimbursed for his share by the NFL, equally naturally. By the time it was over, it was being payed for by the citizens, as our leaders had given away the farm. Boy, I'll bet you're surprised!

At least here there isn't a perfectly good football stadium that isn't payed for yet that needs to be knocked down to build something shiny and new, while the people get to keep paying for the old stadium bonds, so think of the bright side!

And yes, obviously, there will be a massive land grab benefiting only the wealthy people who want to con everyone into thinking that paying through the nose for a downtown football stadium is a good idea. Most people don't like the south end of downtown Los Angeles. I disagree, and I think that there is vastly more potential in the area being revitalized than in being wiped out and replaced with more pseudo-public, corporate owned space to watch sports.

[PapiSicle]

Farmers name is OK as long as the team we land is out standing in the field - like a scarecrow :)

[phoenixandrew]

I wish they called it State Farm Field, because State Farm is my insurance.