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Scottrade Center Could Be Renamed

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The pending merger of two financial firms could affect the home of the St. Louis Blues, as the Scottrade Center would be renamed in the near future.

TD Ameritrade intends to purchase Scottrade, which is based in Town and Country, a suburb of St. Louis. The $4 billion transaction is not official, but it could receive proper approval by September 2017.

One of the assets that will be affected in this transaction is Scottrade’s naming rights agreement for the downtown St. Louis arena. The venue first opened as the Kiel Center in 1994 and became home to the Blues in January 1995, when the team resumed play after the conclusion of the NHL lockout that delayed the start of the 1994-95 campaign.

Savvis acquired the naming rights in August 2000, but eventually ended the agreement in 2005 due to financial difficulties. In 2006, Scottrade signed on as the arena’s new naming rights partner, giving it the name Scottrade Center.

For now the arena is still known as the Scottrade Center, as such a change cannot take place until the transaction between TD Ameritrade and Scottrade is complete. All indications are, however, that the naming rights agreement is a part of the merger, with TD Ameritrade expected to place its name on the venue. More from the St. Louis Post Dispatch:

Following the finalization of the merger, the Scottrade name will be phased out, including at the Scottrade Center downtown, home of the Blues. The arena’s name will be changed to TD Ameritrade Center, [TD Ameritrade CEO Tim] Hockey said. The contract for the naming rights runs through 2021. “We’ll be talking to the owners of Scottrade Center,” he said.

The nature of mergers between financial institutions, as well as those outside the financial sector, can wind up having an effect on the names of stadiums and arenas. The NHL saw one such example play out before this season, when the Buffalo Sabres’ home became the KeyBank Center after KeyCorp acquired First Niagara.

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