Twenty years ago, Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood told me he hoped to sell the naming rights to Arizona Stadium but that renaming McKale Center was not in play.
"That's untouchable," he said. "There's too much history involved."
Times change. Now, a generation later, Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois has renamed Arizona's historic basketball arena "McKale Center at Alkeme Arena." It's a 15-year deal for $27.7 million, or roughly $1.85 million per year.
Reed-Francois did not do so lightly. She reached out to the McKale family — two of McKale's granddaughters live in Coolidge — to assure them the family name would not be removed from the building.
In the money-first, money-second, money-always era of college sports, not everyone is so respectful, including my alma mater, Utah State.
Eighty-eight years after Utah State built its football stadium and named it after football coach and athletic director Dick Romney, the school took his name off the books and accepted an 18-year, $6 million naming-rights deal with Maverik, a firm that owns a chain of convenience stores in the Intermountain West.
Maverik Stadium stands alone. There is no mention of Dick Romney. No statue. No hint that for 88 years the Aggies played football in Romney Stadium. Nothing. The athletic director who coached USU's football, basketball and track teams from 1918-1949 has been washed away for a deal that brings just $333,000 per year to the USU athletic department. That's not enough to pay the salary of a linebackers coach at a mid-major school like Utah State.
"What could we do to stop it?" Romney's granddaughter, Carol Larsen, told the Salt Lake Tribune. "Send hate mail? Picket the announcement? When money talks, a man's legend is silenced."
Pop McKale’s legend has not been silenced. The first time I saw the prominent letters Alkeme on the baselines at McKale Center last week it was repulsive and probably will remain that way for a bit. But Reed-Francois did what had to be done to remain solvent financially, renaming our city's sacred basketball arena the way it has been done at basketball-first schools UCLA, Indiana and Kentucky, and at less-hallowed basketball precincts such as Maryland, Creighton, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Tennessee and Ohio State.
Arizona's deal stacks up with the best of those in the name-changing game.
– Kentucky renamed Rupp Arena. It is now Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. It's a 14-year, $20 million deal worth $1.43 million a year.
– Indiana renamed Assembly Hall. It is now Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Skojdt family paid $40 million to help renovate the IU arena in exchange for naming rights.
– UCLA renamed Pauley Pavilion. It's now Pauley Pavilion Presented by Wescom Financial. It's a 10-year deal worth $38 million that expires in 2028; the deal with Wescom also allows Wescom to place a dozen ATM machines on the UCLA campus.
Mid-majors sell their naming rights for much less. Boise State plays basketball in ExtraMile Arena, a 15-year deal for $8.4 million, or roughly $560,000 per year. And even the Big Ten's Minnesota gets just $800,000 a year for naming its basketball facility 3M Arena, a 14-year deal through 2032.
In sum, Reed-Francois maintained the UA's history, kept the name McKale on the marquee and got a high market value in exchange. Big win.
Poll: A $27.7 million mouthful: Is 'Alkeme' part of your McKale game day vocabulary?
The University of Arizona sold naming rights to the iconic McKale Center for $27.7 million to a Southern California-based insurance services firm. The sports venue's official name is now McKale Center at Alkeme Arena. Are you going to use the new name?
