JP MORGAN CHASE BUYS NAMING RIGHTS TO $1B WARRIORS ARENA

JP MORGAN CHASE BUYS NAMING RIGHTS TO $1B WARRIORS ARENA


JP MORGAN CHASE BUYS NAMING RIGHTS TO $1B WARRIORS ARENA

Jan 29, 2016

The future home of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors will now officially be known as Chase Center. The Warriors plan to start playing in the new 18,000-seat arena for the 2019-20 season, a year later than originally planned due to lawsuits intended to stop the development from moving forward. The financial details of the deal were not released when the name of the new center was announced, but the deal likely exceeds the $200M Barclays paid for naming rights for New York’s Brooklyn Nets arena, according to SFGate.  The sponsorship is part of the commitment to build the arena and surrounding 580k SF of office and 100k SF of retail (a project estimated to top $1B) without any public subsidies, says Peter Guber, co-executive chairman for GSW Arena LLC. JP Morgan chairman Jamie Dimon says Chase Center will be a great location for art, culture, sports and entertainment in the Bay Area. [SFG]

JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational banking and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world’s sixth largest bank by total assets, with total assets of US$2.6trillion. Moreover, it is the sixth largest public company in the world according to the Forbes Global 2000. It is a major provider offinancial services, and according to Forbes magazine is the world’s sixth largest public company based on a composite ranking.The hedge fund unit of JPMorgan Chase is the second largest hedge fund in the United States. The company was formed in 2000, when Chase Manhattan Corporation merged with J.P. Morgan & Co.

The J.P. Morgan brand, historically known as Morgan, is used by the investment banking, asset management, private banking, private wealth management, and treasury & securities services divisions. Fiduciary activity within private banking and private wealth management is done under the aegis of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.—the actual trustee. The Chase brand is used for credit card services in the United States and Canada, the bank’s retail banking activities in the United States, and commercial banking. The corporate headquarters is located at 270 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The retail and commercial bank is headquartered in Chase Tower, Chicago Loop, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is considered to be a universal bank.

JPMorgan Chase is one of the Big Four banks of the United States, along with Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. According to Bloomberg, as of October 2011, JPMorgan Chase had surpassed Bank of America as the largest U.S. bank by assets.

The future home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, a proposed waterfront arena in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, has a new name: The Chase Center.

J.P. Morgan Chase has officially won the naming rights to the new arena, according to multiple sources, which is tentatively scheduled to open in late 2019. It’s unclear how much J.P. Morgan paid for the distinction, which is a 20-year deal, although a senior company executive tells Re/code it was a “significant amount.” CEO Jamie Dimon plans to unveil the news at a press conference on Thursday alongside other J.P. Morgan executives and Warriors star Steph Curry.

The news was reported earlier by the San Francisco Chronicle, but first identified by the website Domain Name Wire over the weekend. Construction on the arena has not yet started, but as the Chronicle points out, having a sponsor on board this early may help the team get additional financing.

It’s a little surprising that the rights didn’t go to one of Silicon Valley’s tech companies, but rather to a New York bank. Then again, that’s exactly why J.P. Morgan made the deal, according to this senior executive. It’s a chance to get a foothold in the Bay Area and accompanying tech scene.

The Warriors have become Silicon Valley’s de facto team. Warriors games, especially in the playoffs, are go-to social events for venture capitalists and tech entrepreneurs. J.P. Morgan wants to associate itself with the area and its numerous tech startups, and buying up the naming rights to the building all of these power players frequent isn’t a bad idea. Plus, since winning last season’s NBA championship, the Warriors are the “hottest brand in sports,” this executive says.

J.P. Morgan will get a handful of marketing perks with the deal, including its name on the court and signage throughout the arena. It will also sponsor some of the building’s in-stadium clubs and hangouts. It’s the company’s second arena deal like this. It’s also the marquee sponsor of Madison Square Garden in New York City, although it clearly hasn’t changed the name of that landmark.

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