Bid farewell to the Patriot Center. Say hello to EagleBank Arena.
EagleBank has agreed to invest nearly $7 million in George Mason Universityover the next decade in return for the naming rights to the Northern Virginia institution’s 10,000-seat arena.
The 30-year-old Patriot Center in Fairfax, as of July 1, will be renamed EagleBank Arena, school and bank officials will announce Thursday. The partnership provides for a minimum $6.6 million commitment by EagleBank in GMU over 10 years, and potentially as much as $13.7 million over 20 years if the partnership is extended.
Ron Paul, chairman and CEO of Bethesda-based EagleBank (NASDAQ: EGBN), said the alliance with Virginia’s largest public university is core to his bank’s six-year effort to broaden its reach in the Northern Virginia market, while simultaneously giving back to the community. It builds on Eagle BancorpInc.’s 2014 acquisition of Virginia Heritage Bank, which substantially increased EagleBank’s assets and its Northern Virginia footprint.
“EagleBank is very excited to be partnering with such a prominent institution as George Mason,” Paul said, “and furthering our commitment to give back to the Northern Virginia community that’s become so important to us.”
Among major Washington area universities, only the University of Marylandhas naming rights sponsors for its major athletic facilities, with the Xfinity Center (Comcast) and Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium. George Mason’s enrollment of nearly 34,000 students is only a few thousand shy of the University of Maryland at College Park.
EagleBank approached GMU about the partnership, Paul said, and it didn’t take long to reach agreement on a dollar figure and other aspects of the deal. Those include EagleBank’s sponsorship of business leadership development programs and an annual internship/apprentice program, where qualified Mason students will participate each semester in EagleBank operations. Bank executives also will serve as a consultant to GMU’s master’s in Real Estate Development program.
“This is a landmark moment for George Mason Universityand EagleBank,” Mason President Ángel Cabrera said in a statement. “Our shared vision goes beyond the financial contribution that will benefit so many people. This is about a relationship between two great institutions that have a stake in the community and are investing in the future for our region.”
The last scheduled event for the Patriot Center will be a Romeo Santos concert on June 25. The first event for the EagleBank Arena will be Cirque du Soleil: Varekai on July 22.
This is not EagleBank’s first naming rights deal. In 2008 and 2009, it sponsored what is now known as the Military Bowl, when it was played at RFK Stadium. It was a great event, Paul said, and it supported the Wounded Warrior Project, but “no one wants to be at RFK in December.”
The Patriot Center, managed by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, opened on Oct. 4, 1985. It hosts more than 130 events annually — GMU men’s and women’s basketball games, concerts, family shows and commencement ceremonies — drawing some 450,000 people per year.
Over the years, it has been the setting for more than 3,500 events, including concerts by Bruce Springsteen, Sting and Keith Urban, events by World Wrestling Entertainment and Ultimate Fighting Championship, Disney on Ice and the Harlem Globetrotters. In 1990, it was the home arena for the Washington Commandos of the Arena Football League.
