BALTIMORE -- Baltimore's spending panel, the City Board of Estimates, voted unanimously Wednesday to change the Baltimore Arena's name to the Royal Farms Arena in exchange for about $1.2 million over five years, reported The Baltimore Sun.
The Baltimore-based convenience store chain, which owns and operates approximately 160 convenience stores in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia, would pay $250,000 annually to the city annually for five years, said the report.
The deal would roughly triple the amount received by the city for the title sponsorship when it was known as 1st Mariner Arena, the report said. That agreement, approved in 2002, netted the city $75,000 a year before it expired at the end of 2012.
The Royal Farms measure passed the Board of Estimates by a 4 to 0 vote, with Comptroller Joan Pratt abstaining.
"I felt very strongly that we could do better than the deal we had," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told the newspaper. "I'm pleased that Royal Farms has stepped up. The naming rights for the arena, which is one of the best performing arenas in the country despite its condition, is a good sign."
The deal does not include the rights to sell food at the arena, which are negotiated under a separate contract, but the businesses will look at other ways to cross-promote, officials told the Sun.
The arena is home to the Baltimore Blast indoor soccer team and is host for numerous events throughout the year, circuses, basketball tournaments and concerts.
The venue, which opened in 1962, has 11,000 permanent seats; with floor seating, its capacity is 13,500. The Beatles, Elvis, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, the Supremes, Bruce Springsteen and many others have performed there. Martin Luther King Jr. has spoken there.
Frank Remesch, general manager of the arena, said he was excited about the opportunity to promote shows to Royal Farms customers. "Royal Farms is going to be a really good partner," he told the paper. "They're going to help me sell tickets."
Signs with the arena's new name will begin to go up over the next two months, officials said.
Click here to read the full Sun report.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.