SUNS
The Suns have signed a naming-rights deal with Verizon for the team’s new training center. The $45M, 53,000-square-foot facility will be called the Verizon 5G Performance Center. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the multiyear deal is an extension of the team’s current long-term sponsorship with Verizon. The practice facility opened officially on Monday and features a variety of player performance technologies, including the application of Verizon 5G technology and more than 150 cameras and sensors to analyze player performance. The facility will also serve as the practice center for the WNBA Phoenix Mercury and replaces the team’s old practice facility, which has been at the Suns’ downtown Phoenix arena for the past 27 years.
The deal elevates Verizon into one of the team’s high-level Ring of Champion founding sponsors. Suns CRO Dan Costello said, “The practice facility is at the center of the partnership. This is 100% about the evolution of Verizon to a technology company.” Momentum is the agency for record for Verizon. The new deal is one of the company’s biggest sponsorships, alongside the entitlement of one of the entrances at MetLife Stadium. “This is about what we are going to do inside the building,” Verizon Head of Strategic Sponsorships & Partnership Rob McQueen said. “We believe that Phoenix has shown that they are very tech forward in their thinking and looking for innovation.”
