The University of Pennsylvania has closed a historic Naming Rights deal with global asset management firm Macquarie.
The multi-year deal will see UPenn’s Palsetra basketball arena – home of the Penn Quakers – renamed as the ‘Macquarie Court at Palestra’. Macquarie’s logo will also be printed on the court.
Grace Calhoun, athletic director at UPenn, said the deal is “far and away” the university’s largest ever sports partnership.
The deal is expected to raise substantial revenues, which will go toward UPenn’s basketball teams and help support a range of community sports programs.
Calhoun said the decision to sell the Naming Rights to UPenn’s most historic college basketball venue was not an easy one, but was necessary to fund UPenn’s ambitious athletics programs.
The Penn Quakers play in the Ivy League’s Division 1, and this season they made it into the 64-team NCAA March Madness finals for the first time in 12 years.
Macquarie is a global firm with offices in across all five continents, including one in nearby in Philadelphia nearby UPenn.