Ft. Worth-based Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing "won the naming rights for the multipurpose arena under construction at the Will Rogers Memorial Center," according to a front-page piece by Sandra Baker of the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM. Terms of the naming rights and the cost were not disclosed by Williamson-Dickie or Multipurpose Arena Fort Worth, the "not-for-profit entity that has been set up to operate and manage" the venue. The 14,000-seat Dickies Arena is "expected to open" in November '19. The arena the following year will "become home to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo." Shortly after the arena name was "announced at a ceremony" yesterday, the venue "learned it will host" first- and second-round NCAA men's basketball tournament games in '22. The $450M arena is a "public-private partnership of the city and private donors facilitated by Event Facilities Fort Worth," led by billionaire businessman Ed Bass. The city's "contribution is capped" at $225M and the "private side of the partnership will pick up the remaining costs." A "master agreement on the facility was reached" in November '15 that "gave Event Facilities naming rights" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 4/19). Williamson-Dickie VP/Marketing Brent Streit said that "sponsoring a stadium is something Dickies has never done before." Streit: "It really intrigued us. This is a local facility that they're putting up and something they really wanted to get behind." He added, "All the associates working at the facility will be wearing Dickies as part of our partnership." In Dallas, Evan Hoopfer noted Dickies has "some experience with sports sponsorship, as the brand is the official workwear partner" of the MLB Rangers (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/18).
