We have a moniker for the new $1-billion Mission Bay arena: Chase Center, as the Golden State Warriors (NBA) have sold naming rights to JPMorgan Chase.
The new arena is set to open during the 2019-2020 season, barring any further delays due to litigation from the Mission Bay Alliance. (This doesn’t seem to be derailing public approval for the arena; the Alliance says the arena will impact traffic to the point essential hospital services will be impacted.) Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but experts say it will probably surpass the $200 million the Brooklyn Nets received from Barclays for arena naming rights. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
While naming deals are not typically struck until a venue is well under construction, the fact that the Warriors are financing the arena privately gave the team incentive to strike the agreement sooner. Guaranteed revenue from the naming rights should give potential lenders confidence as the Warriors seek financing for the $1 billion arena….
“To do this now was incredibly important to financing the project, an absolute cornerstone,” Warriors President Rick Welts said. “It won’t be the last deal we announce, but it will be the biggest and most important deal we’ll announce. It sets the right tone for the other discussions.”…
Chase Chief Marketing Officer Kristin Lemkau called the Warriors the “hottest team and one of the hottest brands in sports.”
“Our strategy is to have big arena assets that can work for both sports and entertainment in key markets,” she said. “If ever there were a city and a team we would aspire to, it would be San Francisco and the Warriors.”
As noted, the arena isn’t scheduled to open until the 2019-2020 season.
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