The Univ. of Minnesota has signed a 14-year, $11.2M deal with St. Paul-based 3M that "includes a name change of the Gophers’ men’s hockey arena to 3M Arena at Mariucci," according to John Shipley of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS. The team has played in an arena named after former UM hockey player and coach John Mariucci since '85. UM AD Mark Coyle said that the money from the 3M deal will "go almost exclusively toward upgrading the school’s facilities" that falls under a $190M fundraising campaign. About $166M of that is "dedicated to the Athletes Village, which will include new practice facilities for the football and men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as a study resource center and cafeteria for all student-athletes." With the 3M partnership, the school has now raised $92M "toward the Athletes Village" since fundraising began in '13. The Athletes Village is "scheduled to open -- on time and on budget, Coyle noted -- in January." Coyle said UM will "continue to aggressively fund-raise." Shipley notes that "could mean a similar naming-rights deal" for UM's Williams Arena, home to the school's basketball teams. John Mariucci Jr., son of the former UM coach for whom the hockey arena is named, "endorsed the partnership with 3M" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 7/11). 3M VP & CMO Paul Acito said that the company has donated $94M to UM "over the past 90 years." Coyle said that he has "had no discussions with a corporation about the naming rights to Williams Arena" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 7/11).
