Naming-Rights Nuggets
Seventy different companies have put their name on an NBA arena, for a total commitment of more than $2.6 billion, since naming rights began in the league more than 36 years ago.
■ In February 1985, Atlantic Richfield Co. paid the Sacramento Kings $7 million in the league’s first naming-rights deal. The team played in a temporary facility, Arco Arena, and eight years in the new facility, Arco Arena II. When the team and facility were sold in 1997, Arco renegotiated the original 99-year deal.
■ In August 1990, two months before the Minnesota Timberwolves opened their new arena, Target signed a 15-year, $18.75 million deal. The partnership has been renewed several times since and is the oldest active naming-rights deal in sports.
■ Five new naming-rights deals have been signed over the past 12 months at NBA venues, the busiest such period ever.
■ Barclays pledged $200 million over 20 years for the then-New Jersey Nets’ proposed arena in Brooklyn. The arena opened in 2012 after multiple delays, giving the bank five years and eight months of free brand exposure, the most lead time in arena naming-rights history.
