TAMPA \u2014 The Tampa Bay Lightning\u2019s home arena has a new name.<\/p>\n
The average hockey fan or concertgoer might not know much, if anything, about Benchmark International, but the Tampa-based mergers-and-acquisitions firm now will have its name on the arena. The multiyear deal to rename Amalie Arena to Benchmark International Arena includes $3 million in joint nonprofit contributions to benefit Tampa Bay communities.<\/p>\n
The partnership was announced Aug. 13 during a news conference at the arena that included Lightning incoming majority co-owner Doug Ostrover, team CEO Steve Griggs and Benchmark International founder Steven Keane, as well as Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and Hillsborough County Commission chair Ken Hagan.<\/p>\n
Benchmark International handles mergers and acquisitions for privately held businesses and has facilitated deals in excess of $12.5 billion across various industries worldwide.<\/p>\n
The firm has 14 offices in 10 countries spanning three continents and is looking to expand into Europe and Canada. But its global headquarters have been rooted in Tampa since 2010 (Keane has worked in acquisitions for 40 years), and its current home office is located in the West Shore business district.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a merger and acquisition company, so you have to have those types of values,\u201d Griggs said. \u201cIt\u2019s all about trust, and it\u2019s all about vision, and we were deeply aligned from the very beginning. They lead with purpose, and they have a global reach and a national reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo for us, it was a perfect fit for us, a perfect fit for the arena. I think it\u2019s a perfect fit for the city. They\u2019re a home-grown company that is planting their flag here. And they\u2019re all focused on exactly what we do here with world-class experience in Tampa Bay and giving back in a real, meaningful way to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Griggs wouldn\u2019t disclose the terms of the deal, saying only that it is standard length. By comparison, the Carolina Hurricanes last September signed a 10-year, $60 million deal with Lenovo for the naming rights to their arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is in perfect alignment with a building in this market … a one-tenant venue,\u201d Griggs said. \u201cSo for us, we\u2019re very happy with the partnership. We\u2019re very happy with the term and the dollar amount.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the time Port Tampa-based Amalie Oil Co. took over naming rights from the Tampa Bay Times in 2014, owner Jeff Vinik had planted the seeds for future success. Amalie Arena hosted four Stanley Cup finals, including two Lightning championships, and the area around the arena grew into a bustling urban core through Vinik\u2019s Water Street project.<\/p>\n
When Amalie approached the Lightning about ending their deal about a year ago, the team began to search for a new naming-rights sponsor, working with Oak View Group\u2019s Global Partnerships division.<\/p>\n
Benchmark International previously had owned only Lightning season tickets, but the company watched as Vinik built the organization into one of the NHL\u2019s best while contributing $34.07 million to 791 different nonprofit organizations through the Lightning Community Heroes program. Last season, the team launched its \u201cPatch with a Purpose\u201d initiative, using its first jersey patches as a fulcrum to further community contributions with a $1 million club donation to the Tampa YMCA and AdventHealth.<\/p>\n
After meeting with Vinik and incoming majority owners Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz, it became evident it was a partnership both parties wanted to pursue.<\/p>\n
\u201cNaming rights aren\u2019t just about signage or branding, they\u2019re about shared values,\u201d Ostrover said. \u201cThey\u2019re about trust, and most of all they\u2019re about vision. … (Benchmark International) mirrors our own goals here at the Lightning: Let\u2019s operate with integrity. Let\u2019s think boldly, but let\u2019s stay grounded in community.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the deal, Benchmark International will become the first business that specializes in mergers and acquisitions to sign a naming-rights partnership.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that makes sense for us to do, even though it is a little bit different,\u201d said Tyrus O\u2019Neill, Benchmark International\u2019s CEO for the Americas. \u201cAt the end of the day, this was more than just a business transaction. The community was a real reason why we wanted to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neill said Benchmark International identified health, hunger and education as areas where it wants to impact the Tampa Bay community, as well as offering help with financial literacy, small businesses and startups along with different ways to serve the local economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that with visibility comes responsibility,\u201d Keane said. \u201cWe plan to use our new platform to support the community initiatives, foster educational programs and create opportunities for local businesses. … We want our name on the building to stand for more than just M&A (mergers and acquisitions). We want it to stand for a meaningful impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
The arena will undergo a complete rebranding that will include new exterior and interior signage. The digital signage outside the arena already included Benchmark International\u2019s name Wednesday, and the goal is to have all new signage up by the Lightning\u2019s regular season opener on Oct. 9.<\/p>\n
In transitioning the naming rights from Amalie, O\u2019Neill said, there will be a series of events to help the public identify with Benchmark and its brand leading into the hockey season, including some philanthropy work, open houses and free concerts.<\/p>\n
Before Amalie, the Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times) held naming rights for the Lightning\u2019s home for 14 years. The news organization bought the naming rights to the building formerly known as the Ice Palace in 2002 under a 12-year deal valued at about $30 million and extended the deal in 2011.<\/p>\n
The Lightning enter the upcoming season with a 417-game home sellout streak \u2014 regular season and playoffs \u2014 that dates back to 2015. The streak doesn\u2019t include the 2020-21 season due to social-distancing protocols that prevented the arena from being filled to its 19,092-seat capacity.<\/p>\n
In Billboard\u2019s 2024 Year In Touring Top Venues rankings, Amalie Arena ranked as the world\u2019s 24th highest-grossing entertainment venue \u2014 and 20th in the U.S. \u2014 among 15,000-seat and more capacity nonstadium venues, netting $70.2 million for its 56 shows and drawing a total of 622,000 fans. The arena can seat up to 21,500 spectators for concerts and comedy shows.<\/p>\n
The arena also has been home to national sporting events ranging from the NHL All-Star Game to the Women\u2019s Final Four, men\u2019s basketball NCAA Tournament games, Frozen Four and NCAA Women\u2019s Volleyball Championship.<\/p>\n
The new naming-right deal is the latest move in what\u2019s been a busy past few months for the Lightning. The team signed a new local TV deal with Scripps Sports in May to carry games over the air beginning this season, moving on from FanDuel Sports Network. Lightning ownership also inked a deal in April with the Oak View Group to become the arena\u2019s new concessionaire, replacing longtime provider Delaware North.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 The Tampa Bay Lightning\u2019s home arena has a new name. The average hockey fan or concertgoer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5105],"tags":[5961,27417,62,15479,5,6,27732,27733,189,17371,285,4,43,187,540,92,5168,5167,1356],"class_list":{"0":"post-159896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-lightning","8":"tag-amalie-arena","9":"tag-benchmark-international-arena","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-hillsborough-county","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-ice-hockey","14":"tag-jane-castor","15":"tag-jeffrey-vinik","16":"tag-lightning","17":"tag-naming-rights","18":"tag-national-hockey-league","19":"tag-nhl","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-tampa","22":"tag-tampa-bay","23":"tag-tampa-bay-lightning","24":"tag-tampabay","25":"tag-tampabaylightning","26":"tag-top-tier-ice-hockey-leagues"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115032777367571384","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}