The management of Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, which "started an extensive facelift" in March that is due to be completed in September ’15, "hopes to find a 'naming' partner in early ’15," according to the AFP. During a press conference on Tuesday, POPB General Dir Julien Collette said, “We hope to submit a name for the approval of the Paris mayor, who is the owner of the hall, at the beginning of '15 or early spring.” The increasingly widespread practice of “naming” -- selling the rights to name a stadium -- is designed to "secure the financing plan of the renovation of the largest sports hall in France," with the full amount estimated at €140M ($178.4M). In order to complete the transformation of the POPB, "which will go from 17,000 to 20,300 seats at most" (concert seating), management has obtained a loan of €125M. The rest of the expenses are covered by equity. Collette "hopes to get a deal close to what was done in London for the O2 Arena," host of the tennis Masters, and in N.Y. with the Barclays Center, occupied by the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. To give an idea, the telecom company O2 is investing £6M ($9.7M) per year for the London hall. This arrangement was "developed to avoid the use of public funds and not increase the price of the hall’s provision." From ’17-18, Bercy is "expected to generate €1 to 2 million ($1.3-2.6M) in profits per year," according to Collette. Opened in '84, Bercy was "in need of a facelift to remain attractive and keep in line with the latest int’l arenas." In the end, the external appearance of POPB will be very similar to its current architecture. Development of restaurants and further modernization of the Sonja Henie Ice Skating Rink in particular are planned for the second work phase, which will resume on Dec. 9. The first phase was completed on Oct. 13 to allow for the men’s tennis tournament and about thirty concerts (AFP, 10/28).
