The Phoenix Suns have a new arena name, after agreeing to terms with engineering company Footprint, the parties announced Friday. The downtown Phoenix complex will be called Footprint Center.
Footprint is an environmental-based tech company that wants to eliminate single-use plastics. The Arizona-based firm develops and manufactures plant-based packaging products and is recognized on the 2021 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, which honors private companies leading out of the pandemic.
Financial details of the agreement were not provided. But NBA arena sponsorships are typically seven figures annually, and sports partnerships consultancy firm IEG notes agreements can also range up to $30 million a year.
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Suns managing partner Robert Sarver said the agreement with Footprint is “one of the most unique partnerships in sports” because Footprint has full access to the arena and will use events to test new technologies.
“We’re going to innovate and transform how sports venues operate,” Sarver said. “The idea is Footprint will create an innovation lab for us within our arena, and then we can take that and get other arenas throughout the world interested in doing the same thing.”