GreenState CU Signs Naming Rights Deal

North Liberty, Iowa-based GreenState Credit Union has announced it will pay $1.4 million for the naming rights to a field house attached to Xtream Arena in nearby Coralville, Iowa.

The 53,000-square-foot facility in the Coralville River Landing will become the GreenState Family Fieldhouse, which has five courts and accompanies the 5,100-seat Xtream Arena. According to the credit union, the arena is scheduled for completion in August 2020.

The arena will host University of Iowa volleyball games as well as a minor league hockey team. In conjunction with the field house, it will also host concerts, family shows and special events.

The credit union, which has $5.6 billion in assets and about 194,000 members, originally considered buying the naming rights to the arena. It bought the naming rights to the field house instead, GreenState Public Relations Director Tara Wachendorf told CU Times.

“It is the members’ money, ultimately, that we’re spending with these deals. So we have to just kind of be more cognizant, I guess, than a bank would be for these types of naming right opportunities. So it just didn’t feel like a fit. It was a lot of money,” she said. “But then, we knew that they had an attached field house they were going to use for all sorts of just community events, youth events, and that just felt like a better fit.”

The 10-year agreement with the City of Coralville gives GreenState a chance to showcase its new logo, she added.

“As a credit union, you take more risks than maybe banks do on people. So this was kind of taking a risk for us, but it turned out because it’s a family thing,” she said. “It’s not an arena where it’s the flashy concerts and the flashy events that come there. It’s more of that family feel.”

Wachendorf said 250,000 visitors are expected to visit the site every year. “It can only grow from there as the field house is utilized more and more. Obviously, from day one it’s not going to be utilized like it will be 10 years down the road,” she noted.

“We wanted it to be inclusive. And because we have the naming rights for it, we’ll be able to give free public use of the facility to a variety of different organizations. So, whether it’s some of the events or groups out there that might be low income and can’t really afford to pay fees to use facilities, we can help those out as well,” Wachendorf added.

GreenState Credit Union is one of several credit unions that have recently signed naming rights deals involving local arenas.

Earlier this year, for example, Virginia Beach, Va.-based Chartway Federal Credit Union announced a $4.25 million branding and sponsorship agreement for Old Dominion University’s arena. Medford, N.Y.-based Suffolk Federal Credit Union signed a naming rights deal with the largest community college in the State University of New York system to rename Suffolk County Community College’s health, sports & education center to the Suffolk Federal Credit Union Arena.

Additionally, Folsom, Calif.-based SAFE Credit Union bought the naming rights to a Sacramento convention center, community theater and outdoor plaza, according to an announcement, and Redwood City, Calif.-based Provident Credit Union announced it would pay $8.1 million for the naming rights to an event center at San Jose State University.

Chartway Federal Credit Union has $2.2 billion in assets and about 190,000 members. Suffolk Federal Credit Union has $1.2 billion in assets and about 61,000 members. SAFE Credit Union has $3 billion in assets and about 235,000 members. Provident has $2.7 billion in assets and about 120,000 members.