Naming rights are being sold for the first time for venues hosting events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Forbes said that the Honda Center is the first arena to take up the opportunity, while the temporary squash venue at Universal Studios will be known as the Comcast Squash Center.
The 18,336-capacity Honda Center is an indoor arena located in Anaheim, California, US. The arena is home to the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, it was completed in 1993 at a cost of US$123 million. It will host Olympic volleyball at LA28.
The 2028 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA 28, is an upcoming international multisport event scheduled to take place from July 14th-30th, 2028 in the United States.
Los Angeles will be the Host City with various events also scheduled to be held at the other Cities spread across the Greater Los Angeles area plus two subsites in Oklahoma City.
The historic change comes as Casey Wasserman, LA28 chair and president, says the mission to be a fully privately funded and no-new-build Olympics meant working with the International Olympic Committee to create a fresh plan for venue naming rights.
He said, “From the moment we submitted our bid, LA28 committed to reimagining what’s possible for the games. This historic announcement delivers on that promise.”
While Honda and Comcast are the two companies announced first, Wasserman says there are more to come, generating critical revenue for LA28 while introducing a new commercial model to the Olympics.
Under the new program, qualifying LA28 partners will have the opportunity to keep existing venue naming rights during the Olympics, as well as secure additional marketing assets.
That means venues such as SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, host of the opening and closing ceremonies and swimming may remain SoFi Stadium if the company buys in but won’t be given another sponsored name if not.
For the up to 19 temporary venues, the naming rights become available to worldwide Olympic partners and LA28 partners.
Outside of naming rights partners, standard clean venue policies still apply, meaning such sites as Rose Bowl Stadium, Dodger Stadium and the LA Memorial Coliseum will retain their names.
Ed Beadle, vice president of digital services and marketing for American Honda Motor Co. said, “As a founding partner of LA28, Honda is immensely proud that a world-class sports and entertainment venue like Honda Center will step onto the international stage to power Olympic dreams at the highest level.
“We have partnered with Honda Center for nearly two decades and we’re excited that it will help showcase Southern California during the Olympic and Paralympic games.”
The Comcast Squash Center at Universal Studios is the first temporary venue to land a naming rights partner.
It will turn Courthouse Square, an iconic working studio lot, into the home of Squash during the Olympics.
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