PROVIDENCE – In due time, it won’t just be the former Providence Civic Center – now known as the Dunkin’ Donuts Center – that will have a corporate name attached to it; it will be the entire R.I. Convention Center complex.
The R.I. Convention Center Authority on April 1 issued a request for proposals to corporate entities, giving them an opportunity to enter into a new 10-year naming rights agreement for the entire downtown convention complex that includes the 13,000-seat arena and the convention center with approximately 167,000 square feet of event space.
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In March, R.I. Convention Center Authority Executive Director Daniel P. McConaghy told the R.I. House of Representatives Committee on Finance that the authority was negotiating with Inspired Brands – the parent company of Dunkin’ Brands Inc. – about entering a new naming rights agreement with the company for the arena name. The second 10-year name agreement with Dunkin’ expires Wednesday, but McConaghy told Providence Business News that discussions between Dunkin’ and the authority on a possible extension to keep the name “Dunkin’ Donuts Center” on the state’s largest arena are ongoing.
McConaghy said the authority has a “very amicable relationship” with Dunkin’ since the prominent coffee and doughnut chain first signed on to have its name on the arena in 2001.
“Because [the current naming agreement] does expire [Wednesday] and we’re still in an RFP process, we need to make sure we dot I’s and cross T’s and make sure we extend it appropriately,” McConaghy said. “But we’re still in discussions.”
McConaghy said when the original naming rights deal with Dunkin’ began, the arena was not part of the authority at that time – the authority acquired the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in 2005. When the deal was renewed in 2011, there wasn’t any thought to also include the convention center in the deal, McConaghy said.
Now, McConaghy said, times have changed. He said authority officials “took a step back” and thought that there’s “a value” to include the entire convention center complex in the naming rights agreement.
McConaghy said it would be the complex itself that has the naming rights and not the individual convention center building.
“I don’t anticipate it being called the ‘XYZ Convention Center. It would be the ‘R.I. Convention Center as part of the XYZ Complex,’ ” he said.
The arena would keep the same plan in having the corporate name branded on and throughout the building, McConaghy said.
According to the RFP, the 10-year naming agreement is proposed to commence July 1 and run through June 30, 2032. The authority has set a May 4 deadline to receive proposals from companies looking to have their name on the complex. McConaghy did not elaborate on how many proposals the authority has received to date, but he expects proposals to come in on May 4.
It is unclear how much of a financial boost the naming rights for the complex would be to the state. McConaghy said the authority wants to “let the market tell us what [the complex] is worth.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
