Ford Center name to change

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced Thursday that the franchise has begun negotiating naming rights with potential new partners. The original naming rights contract allowed the team to terminate the existing agreement should an NBA franchise come to Oklahoma City.

BY JOHN ROHDE, Staff Writer, jrohde@opubco.com | Modified: August 26, 2010 at 8:50 pm | Published: August 26, 2010 Comment on this article

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So long, Ford Center; Hello Thunderdome?

Some of the more lucrative current naming rights contracts to NBA arenas include:

Philips Arena (Atlanta Hawks): average $9.3 million a year though 2019.

American Airlines Center (Dallas Mavericks): average $6.5 million a year through 2031.

Staples Center (Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers): average $5.8 million through 2019.

FedExForum (Memphis Grizzlies): average $4.5 million a year through 2023.

Pepsi Center (Denver Nuggets): average $3.4 million a year through 2019.

AT&T Center (San Antonio Spurs): average $2.1 million a year through 2022.

Bank of Oklahoma agreed to pay $11 million over 20 years to the city of Tulsa to name the BOK Center.

The original naming rights agreement came in 2001, when the Oklahoma Ford Dealers agreed to pay $8.1 million over 15 years.

That contract allowed an NBA franchise to terminate the existing naming rights agreement if a team came to Oklahoma City, which occurred when the Seattle SuperSonics relocated here in July 2008.

The Thunder previously had discussions with the Oklahoma Ford Dealers, but a new agreement could not be reached. As a result, the Thunder officially has terminated the existing naming rights agreement and entered a period of negotiations with other potential partners.

Thunder officials said in a release the team would have no further comment until those negotiations are complete.

Since the Thunder's arrival, team owners have been free to negotiate a deal with new bidders that would guarantee the current payout of $409,000 per year to the city. Anything above that amount would have gone to the Thunder.

Given the Thunder's resounding success last season — which included 31 home sellouts, a 50-32 regular-season record and a competitive playoff appearance against the world champion Los Angeles Lakers — naming rights to the arena no doubt will come at a higher price.

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