Basketball’s Atlanta Hawks have revealed the new name for their brand new home.
In a statement issued on August 29, the NBA team announced a 20-year collaboration with insurance and financial services group State Farm, to include naming rights for the downtown Atlanta stadium.
In addition to the renaming of the arena, which is also home to the Atlanta Dream, of the Women’s National Basketball Association, State Farm and the Hawks will collaborate on a number of community initiatives. Their shared aim is to be ‘good neighbors dedicated to helping people, and to developing safer, stronger and better educated communities across the country’, the new partners said.
“This decision symbolizes our pledge to make a difference in communities, building our brand locally and nationally, and ultimately growing State Farm,” said State Farm chairman and chief executive officer Michael Tipsord.
Atlanta Hawks principal owner Tony Ressler added: “Our ownership group considers the Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club a community asset, and we are excited to have found a partner that shares our vision.”
State Farm Arena will open its doors in October, following the completion of a US$192.5m renovation, the second largest in NBA history, and in time to celebrate the team’s 50th year in Atlanta. The transformed arena will feature the third-largest center-hung scoreboard in the NBA, its most immersive video experience, new sightlines with 360° concourses and new seating, and first-of-its-kind in-venue entertainment options.
Built in 1999, the venue was previously known as the Philips Arena.
August 31, 2018
By Tara Craig
