Transportation solutions company Enterprise has agreed a deal to take on naming rights to the home arena of NHL ice hockey team the St. Louis Blues.
The 15-year agreement will see the facility become known as Enterprise Center, with the deal granting the company interior and exterior brand exposure.
Enterprise will replace financial services company Scottrade as the naming-rights sponsor of the arena. The change from Scottrade Center to Enterprise Center will come into effect on July 1.
Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, president of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation, and Andy Taylor, the company’s executive chairman, were part of the ownership group that bought the Blues back in 2012.
Taylor Kindle said: “This new partnership is a natural fit – the Blues and Enterprise are St. Louis originals. Last year we both celebrated milestone anniversaries in our hometown – 50 years for the Blues and 60 years for Enterprise. St. Louis means a lot to our company – it's where my family founded our business and where many of our employees and customers live and work. We're excited to take our partnership with the Blues to this new level, and we look forward to the many memories to be made at Enterprise Center.”
The arena is currently being renovated, with new dining and beverage options to be introduced along with new gathering spaces.
Enterprise has been an official partner of the NHL for almost a decade. Pat Farrell, Enterprise’s senior vice-president and chief marketing and communications officer, said the company is currently in talks to extend this deal.
Farrell added to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper: “These types of naming rights deals are all about exposure of your product to a loyal fan base. For us, we negotiated the deal based on the levels of media exposure this type of sponsorship would get. This isn’t just a local buy. This will be a name that will be seen in the other… cities with NHL teams.”