Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena is getting a new name as part of a corporate sponsorship.
The venue will soon become CEFCU Arena. The Peoria-based credit union will pay $3.1 million over 10 years for the naming rights and “certain related sponsorship and hospitability opportunities,” according to information released by the university on Wednesday.
ISU's basketball and volleyball teams play at the arena, and it hosts ISU’s Gamma Phi Circus performances each year.
The move is not unexpected. ISU’s athletics director, Kyle Brennan, has talked about securing naming-rights revenue for Redbird Arena and other Athletics facilities.
ISU's Board of Trustees will vote on the naming rights deal during its meeting Friday morning.
The deal comes about a decade after State Farm paid $60 million for 30-year naming rights for Assembly Hall, which became State Farm Center. A $169 million renovation then followed.
