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Wellesley Sports Center getting a really long new name

July 10, 2019 by Bob Brown 16 Comments

The Wellesley Sports Center, now looking to open its doors in August, has sold naming rights to a Dallas-based healthcare network that won’t be including Wellesley in the name.

The Rte. 9 venue formally will become the Boston Sports Institute, a Steward Family Facility. While that does roll off the tongue, we’re thinking The Stew, for short.

wellesley sports center exterior

Privately-held Steward Health Care, which owns a few dozen hospitals in Massachusetts and beyond, is known for being tightlipped about its financials. So not surprisingly, neither the length nor value of this naming deal is being disclosed. But the business clearly has already gotten its money’s worth by being mentioned here a few times. The shaving company that has its name on the field where the Patriots play in Foxborough is said to be paying between $6M and $20M a year for the honor.

(Speaking of which, The Swellesley Report, a Brown Family Publication, is open to naming rights deals, such as for popular pages and features like Wellesley Business Buzz, Wellesley Police Log, Where to Eat page.)

Steward will operate a roughly 7,000 sq. ft., physical therapy/strength/conditioning practice within the sports center. That resource should come in handy for those who get banged up on the skating rinks, in the pools or on the turf field at the facility, or for those looking to boost their conditioning in an effort not to get so banged up.

Ground was broken for the sports center back in late 2017 on property acquired by the town of Wellesley and once occupied by St. James the Great church.

Also note that the arena is looking to fill what many claim is a dream job: driving a zamboni.

wellesley sports center ice
Humble beginnings for one of the sports center’s ice rinks…

 

sports center ice
….and a more current view of the ice

 

MORE: A kid’s take on the Wellesley Sports Center: Logos, locker rooms, Zambonis & more

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Filed Under: Business, Health, Sports

Comments

  1. Susan says

    July 10, 2019 at 6:46 am

    While The Stew is catchy, why is it not called The Wellesley Sports Center or Complex, isn’t that is what it is? Who is the Steward family? Can’t the community name its own facility? How much did Wellesley receive from the Steward Family to allow them to stick their name on it? I am not favorably impressed by this fancy name. Why not The Wellesley Sports Center??

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      July 10, 2019 at 9:03 am

      The town does not own the facility…they own the land it is on and the company building the facility is leasing the land from the town…everything is up for sale…logos, locker rooms, naming rights, they are in it to make money

      Reply
      • Susan says

        July 10, 2019 at 10:53 pm

        Gross.

        Reply
  2. Jeff Lowenstein says

    July 10, 2019 at 10:57 am

    It will always be the MegaPlex to me.

    Reply
    • bbrown says

      July 10, 2019 at 11:16 am

      I personally call the garden the garden rather than the bank name garden (even though it’s not the old garden), though not much getting around gillette stadium, which I’m sure I never called CMGI field or whatever it was called before that.

      Reply
      • Jeff Lowenstein says

        July 10, 2019 at 7:44 pm

        Does Steward know the athletic center is not in Boston?

        Reply
  3. AlKessel says

    July 10, 2019 at 2:45 pm

    My family have decided to call it The Valdez , aka Exxon Valdez=an unwanted,oversized hulk that should never have come near here in the first place !

    Reply
    • Nathalie says

      July 11, 2019 at 7:02 am

      Very funny! Hopefully it won’t sink -financially…!

      Reply
  4. Amy says

    July 12, 2019 at 1:37 am

    St. James the Inordinate?

    Reply
  5. Carol walsh says

    July 13, 2019 at 6:23 pm

    SAD! I thought Wellesley owns it! I have should have known it when Wellesley boys and girls hockey couldn’t have their own locker rooms!!!

    Reply
  6. Barbara says

    July 14, 2019 at 2:56 pm

    Nonsense. Let’s just call it the Wellesley Sports Center and be done with it.
    Forget the cute shortened names like
    The Stew. Who cares what rights they own, Wellesley owns the land.

    Reply
  7. BAM says

    July 14, 2019 at 2:56 pm

    Nonsense. Let’s just call it the Wellesley Sports Center and be done with it.
    Forget the cute shortened names like
    The Stew. Who cares what rights they own, Wellesley owns the land.

    Reply
  8. Bob says

    July 16, 2019 at 12:25 pm

    Given that they’ve sold naming rights to absolutely everything, one would hope that some of these profits go into subsidizing costs for the families, and particularly children of the town.

    Hopefully the owners understand that for this to be sustainably profitable they will need the continued support of multiple generations of townsfolk, price gauging will simply alienate an awful lot of locals.

    Given no prices have been provided despite repeated requests, I’m not holding my breath!!

    Reply
  9. Kate says

    July 18, 2019 at 8:01 am

    This whole project has been suspicious from the beginning. What benefits if any are going to be offered to the locals?

    Reply
  10. Les Paul says

    August 3, 2019 at 12:44 pm

    As a Wellesley resident, this is disappointing. Are there any programs for Wellesley residents beyond those for the schools?

    Reply
    • bbrown says

      August 3, 2019 at 3:08 pm

      There will be, details yet to be shared

      Reply

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