What's In a Name?

[MavKikiNYC]

FleetCenter Has a New Name
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: March 4, 2005

BOSTON, March 3 (AP) - The FleetCenter has a new name: TD Banknorth Garden.

The bank reached a 20-year deal with the arena owner Delaware North to put its name on the home of the Boston Celtics and the Boston Bruins, Delaware North announced Thursday.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The bank, which is based in Maine, also will invest more than $5 million in New England neighborhoods through Delaware North and the Boston Bruins Foundation. It also committed $8 million for improvements to the arena over the life of the deal, officials said.

The new name takes effect on July 1 and resurrects at least part of the name of the FleetCenter's predecessor, the Boston Garden, which was host to 16 N.B.A. titles for the Celtics and 5 Stanley Cups for the Bruins.

The name TD Banknorth was created last month, when shareholders of Banknorth Group approved a $4 billion deal that gave Canada's Toronto Dominion Bank a controlling stake.

The deal ends the whimsical auction of daily naming rights on eBay that resulted in the FleetCenter's being given names - officially, if not in actual usage - like the KurtCenter, the JoeyColinAbbyCenter and the Nocturnal Nannies Arena over the past month.

A New York lawyer's bid to name the arena for Derek Jeter was rejected.