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Readers React: This veteran is fine with ‘United Airlines Memorial Coliseum’

The peristyle of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 13, 2016.
(Nick Ut / Associated Press)
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To the editor: As a veteran and a developer of major sports facilities in the past, including Staples Center, I agree that the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission should not be allowed to pull the rug out from under a naming-rights agreement that was reached more than six years ago.

Deals such as the one reached with United Airlines (an employer of thousands of veterans) take years to negotiate. USC would not have taken on the redevelopment of the Coliseum, sensitive to the historic nature of the facility, without knowing the possibility of selling naming rights was real.

The fact that it is still the “Memorial Coliseum” is the most important part. Replacing the words “Los Angeles” for “United Airlines” makes no difference and seems that it is an ego thing and not a concern for the memories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

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John H. Semcken III, Los Angeles

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To the editor: The original dedication of the Coliseum as a World War I memorial differentiates it from other sports venues that have sold their naming rights.

L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, the Coliseum Commission president, may have been late in raising her objections to the name change, but better late than never.

Robert Hughes, Venice

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To the editor: A compromise that would prevent United Airlines from backing out of its deal with USC is obvious. Instead of calling the stadium the United Airlines Memorial Coliseum, completely removing any mention of Los Angeles from the name, why not call it “United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum?

Case closed.

Mary Louise Dickinson, Alta Loma

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