New agreement locks in Staples Center's name forever

The agreement extends the original $120 million, 20-year naming rights deal between the two parties at the midpoint of its term. Neither party disclosed the amount Staples will pay for the perpetual rights, saying only that it was a fee previously agreed to in the contract.

Since its opening in 1999, the Staples Center has become one of the world's leading sports and entertainment venues. Venues Today, an industry trade magazine, ranks the facility third worldwide among concert venues of its size, grossing an estimated $43 million on 70 concerts last year. Only Madison Square Garden in New York and London's O2 arena, also owned by AEG, grossed more.

Venues Today senior writer Dave Brooks told the Los Angeles Times, "The lifetime piece to this sets a new precedent. AEG accomplished something unique in pro sports."

Staples, headquartered in Framingham, Mass., is one of 10 companies that pay AEG substantial sums to put their names on sports arenas. Todd Goldstein, head of AEG's sponsorship division, says the company expects to gross $250 million from the sale of naming rights this year.

Written by Sandy Smith