Wildcats home McKale Center at ALKEME Arena

Article posted by Coliseum, March 4^th, 2026

Image: Arizona Athletics

The ALKEME Insurance has signed a $27.7 million naming rights partnership with the Arizona Athletics and the Arizona Sports Enterprises to rename the McKale Center as the McKale Center at ALKEME Arena in Tucson, Arizona (US).

‘INSURANCE JOURNAL’ stated that the parties are calling the 15-year agreement the largest publicly known arena naming rights partnership in the Big 12.

Ladera Ranch (US)-based the ALKEME Insurance is a full-service insurance agency providing the businesses and the individuals with an extensive array of commercial and personal insurance, employee and executive benefits and retirement and wealth management services.

The Arizona Wildcats Men’s basketball team is the intercollegiate Men’s basketball program representing the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona (US). They compete in Big 12 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and are coached by Tommy Lloyd. Arizona previously spent 45 seasons in the Pac-10/12.

The 14,688-capacity McKale Center at ALKEME Arena is an athletic arena in Southwest United States located on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona (US). As the home of the University’s Wildcats basketball team of the Big 12 Conference it is primarily used for basketball but also has physical training and therapy facilities. Its construction is marked with a large copper cap that has oxidized brown.

The University of Arizona is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13^th Arizona Territorial Legislature it was the first university established in the Arizona Territory.

The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic Conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (three private universities and 13 public universities) in the States of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. It is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

Tucson (US)-based the Arizona Sports Enterprises is the exclusive multimedia rights holder and sponsorship arm of the University of Arizona Athletics. The Arizona Sports Enterprises builds omnichannel partnerships curated around each partner’s unique Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – delivering measurable impact, brand alignment and long-term value for both the partner and Arizona Athletics. With a dynamic blend of tradition and innovation the Arizona Sports Enterprises serves as the commercial engine behind one of the Big 12’s most storied athletic programs – delivering the best-in-class results through collaboration, creativity and authenticity.

‘INSURANCE JOURNAL’ further stated that the McKale Memorial Center has served as a national stage for championship competitions and the home of the famed Wildcats.

Through the partnership the Arizona Athletics and ALKEME will collaborate with the university’s Eller College of Management to develop entrepreneurship and leadership programming with initiatives that include ‘Shark Tank’-style leadership experiences, mentorship and executive engagement opportunities as well as programming focused on entrepreneurship and risk management.

The Eller College of Management (Eller) is a business school at the University of Arizona located in Tucson, Arizona (US). The Eller College of Management began in 1913 as Bachelor’s degree program in Commerce before becoming the University of Arizona School of Business and Public Administration in 1944. In 1999, the school was renamed the Eller College of Management in honor of its primary benefactor Karl Eller, an entrepreneur and alumnus of the University of Arizona. It is one of the largest colleges at the University of Arizona with over 5,400 undergraduate students and nearly 700 graduate students.

The naming transition to the McKale Center at ALKEME Arena will be implemented in phases with additional programming and engagement initiatives launching throughout the partnership.

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