The University of Wyoming is open to offers for the naming rights to the Arena-Auditorium, the Cowboys’ college basketball arena that also boasts the state’s largest indoor seating capacity.
Known as the “Double A,” the 11,612-seat Arena-Auditorium has been corporate-name free since it opened in 1982.
College athletic programs are increasingly looking for money in an era where university football and basketball programs are having to pay to get the best athletes to come to their schools since the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2021 that allowed college athletes to earn compensation for their name, image and likeness (NIL).
That’s no different for the University of Wyoming, which has resisted overtures to name War Memorial Stadium, the school’s 29,181-seat football stadium, and Arena-Auditorium, which has earned the nickname “Dome of Doom,” as the Cowboys have won 73% of their home games.
The university has no plans to offer naming rights for the football stadium but is open to offers for the Double A, said Cowboys Athletic Department spokesman Nicholas Seeman. The development was first reported by the Cowboys sports news site 7220sports.com.
The university has discussed a naming rights deal with multiple entities, Seeman said, but it has not resulted in a deal.
The university has no timeline to finalize a deal and will wait for the right opportunity, Seeman wrote in an email to Cowboy State Daily.
“We have made presentations to select entities, but we have not found the proper fit financially,” Seeman said. “We want to be thoughtful of who we partner with.”
The university said a dollar amount it is seeking in a deal is “undetermined” and contingent on the amount of “marketing inventory tied to it” or how much the name is used and on what besides just the arena.
It’s also undetermined exactly what the sponsorship money would go toward, though Seeman indicated that the athletic program is facing rising costs.
“We have dramatically escalating costs in (the) current Division I landscape, and some are related to NIL and some are not,” he said.
As of now, UW has no plans to seek a naming rights sponsor for War Memorial Stadium.
“It is our intention to maintain the (name) of War Memorial Stadium,” Seeman said.
College Trend
Across the college landscape, naming rights deals are being struck or explored.
Georgia State University announced in mid-July that it has begun exploration of a naming partner for its 3-year-old Convocation Center, which serves as the school’s basketball arena.
“This milestone is the first of its kind for the newly built facility,” the university said in a statement.
The University of Southern Indiana last fall announced that Screaming Eagles Arena has been renamed Liberty Arena, Home of the Screaming Eagles after Liberty Federal Credit Union “made a historic $10 million gift to the University of Southern Indiana Foundation for USI Athletics.”
Under the arrangement, the naming rights would last 20 years.
“The new name, Liberty Arena, Home of the Screaming Eagles will be proudly displayed on the exterior of the Arena,” the university said in a statement. “Additionally, the Liberty Federal Credit Union logo will be featured prominently on both halves of the Arena floor.”
Northwestern University in Illinois and Northwestern Medicine reached an exclusive two-year naming-rights partnership this month that brands the Wildcats’ lakeside athletics venue as Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium.
What Makes Sense
Don Roy, professor of marketing at Middle Tennessee State University who studies sports sponsorship deals, said it’s not surprising to see UW seeking out a naming rights deal. Everyone else seems to be doing it, all because they need to raise money to pay NIL deals.
“It is a trend that we are seeing unfold right before our eyes as many universities have announced their desire to secure naming rights for football or basketball venues, and it is because of the need to create a new revenue stream,” Roy said.
Roy estimates a deal with a school like UW could cost a donor or corporation as much as “low seven figures a year” to get their name on the Double A.
The most likely suitors would be regional or local corporations looking for exposure who want to also develop or burnish their reputation as a good corporate citizen, supporting the state’s preeminent educational institution.
“A brand that maybe has a headquarters in that city or that market, they are an ideal prospect,” Roy said.
The price for a sponsorship deal, Roy said, mainly has to do with how much the facility is used.
Many arenas or stadiums are also home to non-university events such as concerts, professional sporting events and trade shows.
A deal would also most likely need to be struck for at least a decade. Universities value continuity, as do the communities they are in. Arenas and stadiums are landmarks, and their names aren’t easily erased in memories or maps.
“The last thing you want to do is put a corporate name on the Wyoming football stadium and then three to five years from now put another one on there,” Roy said. “It really does not make sense for the property or for the partner.
“The best relationships are those that are 10-15 years or even longer in duration.”
Justin George can be reached at justin@cowboystatedaily.com.
