DUE FOR COMPLETION in September 2013, the Lincoln Haymarket arena in Nebraska, USA will be known as the Pinnacle Bank Arena after a new naming rights deal was announced this week.
The deal will see the Nebraska-based bank name the new home for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s (UNL) basketball teams in a 25-year agreement worth $11.25m, or $450,000 per year.
Nevertheless, the deal for the 16,000-seat arena is worth significantly less than other US college basketball arena deals.
Cable operator Comcast, for example, signed a deal with the University of Maryland for the naming rights of its basketball venue in 2002 worth $800,000 per year over 25 years ($20m), and in 2002 the University of California, Fresno agreed a naming rights deal with Save Mart Supermarkets for $2m per year over 20 years ($40m).
More recently, in April 2010 KFC Yum! purchased the naming rights to the University of Louisville’s basketball arena for $13.5m over 10 years.
Pinnacle Bank was the preferred naming rights partner for the new home of UNL basketball after a number of candidate brands expressed their interest when plans were unveiled in May 2010.
The deal, which will take immediate effect, was brokered directly between the University, the city of Lincoln and Pinnacle Bank and has an option for renewal negotiation following the end of the 25-year agreement.