Will TD Banknorth Garden Change Names Following Acquisition?

TD Banknorth Garden Could Be New Name Following Commerce Bancorp Acquisition

TD Banknorth, which yesterday said that it will change its name to TD Commerce Bank following its $8.5B acquisition of New Jersey-based Commerce Bancorp,  is "undecided" if the company will rename TD Banknorth Garden, home to the Celtics and Bruins, according to Ross Kerber of the BOSTON GLOBE. TD Banknorth CEO Bharat Masrani: "For sure the 'Garden' will remain there, and what version of 'TD' goes in front of it is the question." Kerber reports "no changes are imminent" to the arena's name, though company execs yesterday said that names on TD Banknorth locations will be changed by '09. TD Banknorth Garden President John Wentzell said that the bank, under the terms of the contract, has the "right to change the arena's name once without paying a penalty." Univ. of Oregon professor Dennis Howard noted that a "small name tweak could prove costly, $1[M] or more, just to change signs and graphics inside and outside the building." The current naming-rights deal runs through 2025 and was "hailed at the time it was signed for returning the 'Garden' moniker to the facility." Masrani noted the term Garden is "important, historically" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/20). A new name would be the arena's fourth since its erection in '93 (BOSTON HERALD, 3/20).