CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Thomas J. Henry announced this week that he will offer $12.5 million for the naming rights of the American Bank Center.
A news release from the attorney states the offer is $10 million more than any previous naming rights deal for the convention center.
If accepted, it would be paid out in $1.25 million annual installments over the course of a 10-year deal. The naming rights are apparently up for auction after being under the American Bank banner for the last 20 years.
The building itself is owned by the City, which means leaders will have some say in the process, but City Manager Peter Zanoni said, it will ultimately be up to the group that manages the facility, Oak View Group aka OVG360.
"[In] city council there will be no action item on this, when City Council approved the contract with OVG360 one of the management agreements is that OVG360 would manage the naming rights process," Zanoni said.
OVG360 took over the responsibility almost 3 years ago.
The venue has been under the American Bank brand since 2004 and has played host to numerous concerts, graduations, sporting events and conventions.
"American Bank has an exclusivity period based on the contract to be the first to be negotiated with, we do know OVG360 is in the process of securing naming rights for a new defined term," Zanoni said.
The release states Henry was approached by the center's management group about the opportunity, which he hopes will allow him to, ''further his philanthropic endeavors within the Corpus Christi community."
“When I was approached by the management company for the American Bank Center, the Oak View Group, about the naming rights opportunity, I was excited to explore this opportunity,” said Thomas J. Henry.
3NEWS attempted an interview with OVG360 on the matter, we were sent this statement instead saying in part quote, "We are currently engaged in discussions, and any specific details will be determined in collaboration with the city as part of the process."
The current naming right deal is up September 30, 2024.
Henry will host a press conference on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at Atlantic Aviation to discuss his naming rights proposal.
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