By the time Rollerbladers give way to figure skaters, the Fleet Skating Center
will have a new name. Weeks before the signs on Fleet bank branches change in
December, downtown’s coolest attraction will be sporting Bank of America’s red,
white and blue logo.
So it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue: “Bank of America Skating Center.” So it will share a name with lots of other facilities across the country. But maybe it’ll be inspiring: the bank’s motto “Higher Standards” along the wall.
Up the road, in Boston, negotiations are “in the advanced stages” to turn the FleetCenter into yet another B of A-branded site, according to Joe Goode, a spokesman for the North Carolina bank. The exact details haven’t been finalized, but Goode said you can “absolutely” expect to see “Bank of America” in the name.
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Should the most obvious choice be made, the Boston arena could share names with “Idaho’s premier showplace,” as well as skyscrapers in San Francisco, Houston and, in the future, Manhattan. Seattle has a “Bank of America Arena,” and the bank’s hometown, Charlotte, has a “Bank of America Stadium.”
Bank of America has already taken over Fleet’s promotional spaces at Gillette Stadium and Fenway Park, as well as Yankee Stadium in New York. But with the FleetBoston Financial merger only closing in April, time was too short to rename the FleetCenter in time for its highest-profile event of the year, the Democratic National Convention.
Whatever B of A and Delaware North, which runs the arena, end up with, it will be the third bank name attached to the Celtics’ and Bruins’ $160 million home. Built in 1995, the FleetCenter was supposed to be called the Shawmut Center. But before it opened, Fleet bought Shawmut, taking over the 15-year, $30 million naming deal.
In Providence, Fleet holds the naming rights to the 5-year-old skating center opposite City Hall until 2014, said general manager Harry Luongo. Preparations to make it the Bank of America Skating Center are just starting, Luongo said, and the scope of the job isn’t clear yet. “We were just talking about it this morning,” he said last Wednesday. “I don’t even have their logo yet.”
B of A’s Goode said the skating rink is just a part of the bank’s overall
re-branding strategy, and the bigger emphasis will be on the Fleet branch conversions,
which are scheduled for December.
