Dive Brief:
- Casey’s General Stores has reached an agreement with the Iowa Events Center to purchase the naming rights to its sports arena in Des Moines, Iowa, the two organizations announced in a press conference on Monday.
- That facility, currently called Wells Fargo Arena, will officially become Casey’s Center on July 1, 2025. The agreement is slated to last 10 years.
- Contracts with sports venues and teams, from local little leagues up to the top levels of professional sports, are a vibrant part of the marketing picture for many convenience store companies.
Dive Insight:
Although this is Casey’s first time buying naming rights, the deal fits in well with its heavy presence in its home state of Iowa, CEO Darren Rebelez said during the press conference announcing the news.
“As Casey's evolves, we are bringing bigger, bolder partnerships to life to have a greater impact with our team, guests and communities,” Rebelez added in a LinkedIn post Monday afternoon. “I can’t think of a better way to do that than welcoming Casey’s Center to Des Moines in July 2025.”
Casey’s is taking over naming rights from Wells Fargo, which has until now been the arena’s only naming partner in its 20-year history. In addition to putting its name and logo on the arena, Casey’s will sell its pizza and other foodservice items inside the center, Rebelez said.
The 17,000-seat arena is currently the home of three professional sports teams: the NBA G-League’s Iowa Wolves, the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild and the Indoor Football League’s Iowa Barnstormers, according to its website. It also hosts a number of other sporting events, concerts and shows, accounting for nearly 200 events per year, Rebelez wrote.
In Casey’s, the Iowa Events Center found a partner with deep ties to the state and an engaged fanbase in its communities, said Angela Connolly, chair of the Polk County Board of Supervisors, during the press conference.
Casey’s is not the only c-store to put its name on an arena. ExtraMile put its name on the 12,500-seat indoor arena at Boise State University in 2019. A brand-new 9,500-seat sports and entertainment arena in Savannah, Georgia, became Enmarket Arena in 2021. In West Virginia, the Charleston Dirty Birds have played at GoMart Ballpark since 2022.
While it didn’t rename the stadium, Pilot Company in August became the presenting partner of Neyland Stadium, the University of Tennessee’s football stadium. The deal preserves the stadium’s name, which honors the school’s winningest coach, General Robert R. Neyland.
Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s General Stores operates more than 2,600 convenience stores in 16 states.
