Storing database table name as const

I’m trying to store the database table name as a const so I don’t have to write the below code every time:

$table_name = $wpdb -> prefix . 'name_here';

Instead, I’d like to do it like this:

define ( 'TABLE_NAME', 'wp_name_here' );

But when I use it to create the table, it won’t work…Why?

if ( $wpdb -> get_var ( $wpdb -> prepare ( "SHOW TABLES LIKE TABLE_NAME" ) ) !== TABLE_NAME ) {
   $sql = "CREATE TABLE TABLE_NAME (
      id mediumint(9) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
      name tinytext NOT NULL,
      value text NOT NULL,
      PRIMARY KEY (id)
   ) $charset_collate;";
}

The table name now becomes TABLE_NAME if I use the above code.