Donna Bland, CEO of Golden 1 Credit Union, announces the naming rights deal at the site of the under-construction Golden 1 Center in Sacramento yesterday (June 16).
If you are a card-carrying member of Golden 1 Credit Union, you are eligible to enjoy special privileges at Golden 1 Center when it opens in Sacramento in October 2016, including marching up to the Fast Pass concessions lane at Kings' basketball games.
Member care was the chief concern of Golden 1 Credit Union in purchasing the naming rights to the Sacramento Kings' new arena.
Locally grown was the key ingredient for the Kings organization in choosing the company that has made Sacramento home for 80 years.
Chris Granger, Kings president, said it took 18 months and several rejects to fashion this deal. Though he declined to discuss financials of the 20-year deal, he did say published reports are fairly accurate. The Sacramento Bee published “north of $120 million.”
The deal was brokered in house, with Jeff David, Kings' chief revenue officer, on one side and Golden 1’s Richard Musci on the other.
Vivek Ranadive, Kings' owner, addresses the press conference.
The new name will go up immediately at the construction site of the $500 million project, where “80 percent of everything we’re spending goes to Sacramento companies,” Granger said, adding it’s being built by 60 percent local construction workers and will source 90 percent locally-grown food (within 100 miles) when it opens.The Kings' commitment to Sacramento, a community that fought hard to keep the team, had a lot to do with its agreement with Golden 1 Credit Union, which has 720,000 members (330,000 of whom are in Sacramento) and 80 branches.
The Kings plan to take care of those members in unprecedented ways. Besides presales, early access and members-only offers, Granger said there are plans to offer Fast Pass lanes for Golden 1 members at concessions stands at the new arena, at least for Kings' basketball and perhaps for other events as well. The concessionaire is Legends.
The Fast Pass lane has been offered on a limited basis to Kings' season ticketholders and logistically it works, Granger said. “We have a good handle on it.”
A year out, he couldn’t be certain what other offers will be handed out to Golden 1 Credit Union members, but he does know it’s important to the title sponsor that the members have plenty of “wow” moments, thanks to this agreement. “It’s not an old-school branding play,” Granger said. “It’s about taking care of their members. They are known for exceptional customer service and involvement in the lives of their members.”
“The real value for us is having a longterm partner who cares as much about Sacramento and downtown as we do,” Granger said. In fact, Golden 1 will open a flagship branch in the 1.5 million-square-foot downtown mixed use development surrounding the new arena.
The Kings will also create a co-branded credit card with Golden 1, and a percentage of that card activity will fund community programs through the Kings’ charitable foundation.
Golden 1 Center is committed to sustainability and will have unprecedented technology, Granger added. And the community rallied round to keep the Kings in Sacramento, a battle that has left a lasting impression on the team and team owners. “It’s always been bigger than basketball,” he said.
“The list of ways we are trying to purposely spend money within our community and naming rights is another manifestation of that commitment,” he said.
With more than $9 billion in assets, Golden 1 is the leading credit union in California and the sixth largest credit union in the nation.
Contact: Chris Granger, (916) 928-0000