Yum! Brands is set to stamp its name on its home city's newest addition. Effective immediately, KFC Yum! Center will be the new name for the 721,000 square-foot, downtown Louisville, Ky., arena slated to open this fall.
The $13.5 million, 10-year agreement is between Yum! Brands Inc. and Team Services LLC, a leading naming rights agency that was retained by the Louisville Arena Authority to market the exclusive opportunity. It includes a right of first negotiation to extend the agreement for five years beyond the 10-year agreement if both parties agree in the eighth year.
In exchange for its naming rights investment, Yum! Brands Inc. is afforded the opportunity to have prominent exterior signage positions, including signs overlooking the Ohio River, as well as a position on the arena roof.
There will be seven different restaurant concession areas where guests can purchase KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut products, which will vary depending on the event being held at the center. Yum! Brands will enjoy other benefits such as a double center-court suite, digital messaging rights, an interior signage package and premium hospitality options.
"Yum! Brands is extremely proud that Louisville's newest and most spectacular venue will be named the KFC Yum! Center," David Novak, chairman and CEO, Yum! Brands Inc., said in a news release. "As the world's largest restaurant company based in Louisville, with 1,400 local employees, we have always been committed to investing in our own hometown. The KFC Yum! Center is another great way for us to give back to the community and make it a great place for our employees and their families."
In addition to collegiate athletics, the KFC Yum! Center will play host a variety of top concerts and family events, effectively ushering in a new era of entertainment in the region.
Yum!'s sponsorship of the arena is not its first. The company's Taco Bell brand signed a 15-year naming rights agreement for the multi-purpose indoor arena at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, in 2004. The company also is a major sponsor of the Kentucky Derby, hosted the first Saturday in May in Louisville.
