Arco Inks Arena Naming-Rights Extension With Maloof Sports

Arco Extends Naming-Rights Deal With Maloof Sports

Arco and Maloof Sports & Entertainment have inked a multi-year extension of their naming-rights deal for Arco Arena, according to Kelly Johnson of the SACRAMENTO BUSINESS JOURNAL. Arco and the Kings first signed their agreement in ’85, and the arena opened three years later. NBA Commissioner David Stern said of the deal, “The time frame provides an appropriate window within which all interested parties can work toward a new multipurpose arena for the Sacramento region” (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/19). In Sacramento, Mary Lynne Vellinga writes neither side would “disclose whether the agreement could be canceled or transferred to another facility.” But The Bonham Group Chair & CEO Dean Bonham said similar agreements “always contain a cancellation clause if the team moves out of the facility.” Vellinga notes Arco’s previous deal, which was set to expire this year, was “one of the cheapest in the NBA at $750,000 a year.” Arco “initially paid $7[M] upfront in the 1980s, but agreed to kick in more after then-team owner Jim Thomas ran into financial difficulty in 1997.” Cindy Wymore, a spokesperson for Arco parent BP said, “To have Arco Arena be anything but Arco Arena is just not something we wanted” (SACRAMENTO BEE, 3/20).