After a year in the market for a naming rights partner, the Magic’s home arena has a new name: Kia Center.
The Magic announced the sale of its arena naming rights to Kia America on Wednesday, replacing Amway Center as the new name for the tax-payer funded venue in Orlando.
The partnership will include new indoor and outdoor signage, the installations of EV charging stations, Kia vehicle displays and the Kia Terrace, a hospitality lounge for fans.
“The Orlando Magic and Kia America have been proud partners for several years and we share in the excitement of Kia’s success and growth,” Magic CEO Alex Martins said in a statement. “We look forward to our expanded partnership which allows Kia to drive its brand forward and deliver a direct, impactful message to our fan base and beyond using the power of the NBA.”
Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.
The Magic and Amway Global originally reached a 10-year, $40 million naming-rights deal when the arena opened in 2010 but it’s likely the new deal is worth more money.
When Kia purchased the naming rights to the historic Forum in Los Angeles in March 2022, the company reportedly agreed to pay $52 million over 10 years, according to VenuesNow.com.
Although the Forum is no longer home to an NBA franchise — it hosted the Lakers from 1967-99 — the deal marked the first U.S. naming rights deal for the automaker.
Kia also owns the naming rights to Kia Arena, a tennis venue at Melbourne Park that hosts matches for the Australian Open.
“The naming of the Kia Center is another example of the strength of our partnership and provides us a year-round sports and entertainment platform for our fans,” Kia America president and CEO Sean Yoon said. “Coupled with our naming rights of the Kia Forum in California, we now stretch from coast to coast.”
Pictures: Amway Center sign removed from arena
Naming rights for sports venues have skyrocketed in value since the Magic’s arena first opened its doors more than a decade ago.
In 2018, the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm reached a 20-year, $175 million agreement for the arena, lauded as one of richest naming rights deals in NBA, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Earlier this year in South Florida, the Heat struck a 17-year, $117 million deal with software company Kaseya Limited, according to the Miami Herald.
Although the Magic arena was mostly funded by the tourist hotel tax — the team contributed $50 million of the $480 million cost — the franchise itself retains the revenue from advertising, naming rights and luxury suites in exchange for paying the city roughly $1.9 million annually, plus a 3% annual escalation.
The Magic also pay $1 million in rent per year to the city, which owns the arena. The team is under contract to lease the arena through 2035 but the Maigc have two five-year extension options in their lease, which could keep the team at the venue through 2045, the Sentinel previously reported.
The arena also is home to more than just Magic basketball.
Last year it drew 1.3 million guests to 233 events, generating 478,000 hotel night stays.
It’s this popularity that made the naming rights of the arena valuable and thus Kia Center was born.
Email Jason Beede at [email protected] or follow him on X, also known as Twitter, at @therealBeede.
