The loss of the Seattle SuperSonics (NBA) as an anchor tenant gives Cleveland-based KeyCorp a big price bank on naming rights for KeyArena.
The loss of the Seattle SuperSonics (NBA) as an anchor tenant gives Cleveland-based KeyCorp a big price bank on naming rights for KeyArena.
Key will pay $300,000 this year and $315,000 next year for naming rights to the Seattle Center arena. That’s down significantly from the $1.2 million annually the financing institution was slated to pay with the Sonics still a tenant. For Seattle, keeping a naming-rights deal in place is a tremendous win: under the terms of the 1995 deal KeyCorp could have walked away from the deal without a penalty.
The naming-rights deal is slated to end in 2010; without another NBA tenant it’s hard to see KeyCorp renewing.
