TOWSON, Md. In one of the biggest naming rights deal for a credit union, State Employees CU has agreed to pay $475,000 annually for ten years to have nearby Towson University, the second largest university in the state system, to rename its new 5,200-seat Tiger Arena the SECU Arena.
Proceeds from the naming-rights deal will be used to pay for projects at the arena not covered by the original bonds issued to finance the $67 million facility, opened just a month ago.
Towson University is a 22,000-student institution located 15 miles from SECU’s Linthicum, Md., offices.
The deal includes signage inside and outside the arena—including one in the middle of the basketball court--the use by SECU representatives of one of the building's two large corporate suites and access to multipurpose rooms. The $2.6 billion credit union, the state’s second largest, will also set up permanent information centers at the arena and the West Village Commons building that serves as a hub for students and increase the number of ATMs on campus from one to at least three.
Other credit unions that have bought naming rights recently are: Gesa CU, which paid $1 million to rename a community theatre; Bellco CU, which $1.25 million for rights to rename the Colorado Convention Center; and CFE FCU, which acquired the naming rights to the arena at Central Florida University.
