With new naming rights deal, US Airways Center will become Talking Stick Resort Arena.
The Phoenix Suns has announced a new naming rights deal for US Airways Center in Phoenix with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community who own Talking Stick Resort.
“We wanted to have a name on the building that was reflective of Arizona and iconic in nature as well,” said Jason Rowley, president of the Phoenix Suns. “All of this at one point in the past was Native American land, so to have a partner that is really reflective of that is a nice thing to be able to do.”
Due to a confidentiality agreement, Rowley was unable to disclose specific duration or dollar amounts for the deal, beyond describing it as “multiyear” and a “significant investment.”
“Obviously these rights have been increasing in value, not just for our facility but for other facilities as well over the years,” said Rowley. “Our last one was about a 10-year deal so, as you would expect, it’s an increased investment over the last deal we had.”
Even with their national reach, the Suns chose to pursue a local sponsor in order to foster the continued economic development of the Phoenix area and to choose a partner who was actually developing the community in that way. Talking Stick Resort is locally owned and operated by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and is a central destination for visitors to the area.
“Like Talking Stick Resort, this venue has become an iconic destination for entertainment in Arizona,” said President Diane Enos of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the owner and operator of Talking Stick Resort in a press relase. “Thousands of families and individuals have created long-lasting memories at this venue which makes its new name, Talking Stick Resort Arena, all the more meaningful. We have a shared commitment with the Phoenix Suns in building a sense of community in the Valley and we are honored to help them provide a place for so many people to gather and celebrate.”
The name change transition will begin in the arena at the end of the Suns' season, “which will hopefully be in June,” and will be completed by the beginning of their preseason at the beginning of October 2015. By working through the summer, Rowley sees it taking 90 to 100 days to complete, with a price tag of $1.5 million.
Talking Stick Resort will receive identical assets to US Airways with exterior and rooftop signage, as well as their name and logo on the scoreboard and on the playing surface of the court for the Phoenix Suns NBA games and the Phoenix Mercury WNBA games.
After partnering with American Airlines, owner of US Airways, since the building’s start, the current deal ends in October 2015, and the airline has elected not to extend the deal. Though Rowley said they would love to have them back in some capacity, the Phoenix Suns are currently not under any deal with American Airlines past October 2015.
“American Airlines already has two buildings in the country named with their moniker on them, so it wasn’t a big surprise when they let us know they wouldn’t be renewing the agreement,” said Rowley. “They were great partners throughout the entire process, very professional. We parted on very good terms.”
Once the Suns confirmed the sponsorship was ending with American Airlines about six months ago, they started looking for a new naming rights partner among their existing corporate partners to see if there was any interest. Talking Stick Resort has been partners with the Suns for almost 10 years as a presenting sponsor.
“We really started with Talking Stick Resort and Casino and ended with them,” said Rowley. “It was a situation where we had such great dialogue with them and knew what we had with them in terms of the partnership with the Suns, since they’re also the presenting sponsor of the team itself. It was really just a natural extension and expansion of the deal.”
Interviewed for this article: Jason Rowley, (602) 379-7912