CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The timeline and criteria being considered to select a new name for the American Bank Center venue was released this week.
A memo sent out to city council members Tuesday outlined the preliminary strategy going forward for OVG 360, the group that manages the venue.
There's about five months before the naming rights expire which happens September 30.
The memo provided to city council members includes a detailed list of target brands for OVG's approach for securing a new naming rights partner. Those include:
- Current American Bank Center and City of Corpus Christi partners
- Financial Services/Wealth Management
- Healthcare/Hospital/Health & Wellness
- Insurance (health, auto, etc.)
- Wireless/Communications/Connectivity/Internet
- Utility/Energy/Renewable Resources
- Corpus Christi based companies
- Regional Headquartered companies
- National Companies with focus in Corpus Christi/Region
- Other brands who align with Corpus Christi priorities, values, etc.
"Thomas J. Henry is one, a few others as well, I can't disclose their names right now," City Manager Peter Zanoni said. "The key thing is this, there is a process, always was a process, now that American Bank has decided not to continue, this process will take place."
American Bank has held with the facility naming rights since 2004.
As we've reported, attorney Thomas J. Henry publicly offered $12.5 million for a 10-year deal.
While law firms weren't specifically listed, Zanoni said the attorney would fit in a different category.
"Lawyer companies weren't listed, but community-wide companies were listed, Thomas J. Henry certainly would fall under that category, so I think those are names they typically use across their business portfolio," he said. "We didn't select those, OVG 360 did."
The memo states OVG 360 is targeting a minimum 10-year partnership and will look beyond financial terms.
Beyond financial terms, additional criteria that OVG and the City of Corpus Christi will be considering when identifying the new naming rights partner include:
- Alignment with community values
- Enhancement of current venue and venue programming.
- Usage of the facility to serve the Corpus Christi community.
- Ability of partner to help amplify the venue message.
3NEWS also reached out to a couple of council members to get their take on the strategy.
"I don't know that there is any one key factor, I think as that document describes you look at a number of things," council member Mike Pusley said. "It doesn't just come down to being about money, we want to make sure we are representing the city well, the community priorities, the things we think is important here."
"We have a lot of needs in the city and if someone is willing to put forward a substantial offer we should give that really serious consideration ultimately that is going to benefit the people of Corpus Christi," council member Jim Klein said.
When it comes to the timeline in the first 30 days they will identify a list of companies to reach out to.
From there, a naming rights package/presentation will be prepared for interested parties.
By 60 days, they'll begin negotiating package terms.
By three months from now they'll finalize those terms and by August, they'll come up with a timeline for changing over the signage and announcing the new partnership.