Communications Leader Names Maryland Arena For $20 Million
1/5/2000 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2000
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland Terrapins basketball teams will play in the Comcast Center beginning in the 2002-2003 season, thanks to a $20 million naming rights gift to the university announced today. The gift is part of a business partnership that also includes the provision of cable television services to university residence halls. The Maryland Board of Regents and the Board of Public Works must approve the agreements before they take effect.
University Relations Vice President Brodie Remington said the gift is the largest single donation ever to the flagship campus, and it matches the largest known corporate naming gift in the United States for a college athletic facility. The $20 million represents a significant portion of the university's share of the cost of construction on the planned $101 million arena, which will be constructed on the north side of the campus under the auspices of the Maryland Stadium Authority.
"We are thrilled to welcome Comcast to the University of Maryland," said President C.D. Mote, Jr. "It is particularly fitting that this university, with its great academic strengths in information technology and business, should team up with Comcast, a leader in cable television services and content as well as high-speed Internet access."
Maryland Athletic Director Deborah Yow said, "We are immensely pleased that this arrangement makes possible the building of the finest student activities center in the United States. It will achieve a number of important goals. It will host multiple university events for students, faculty and staff, serve as a magnificent home court for Terrapin basketball, advance our gender equity initiatives by providing a fine competitive and practice venue for a number of Terrapin women's sports teams and provide appropriate offices and locker rooms for those teams and their coaches."
The university plans to raise another $25 million for its share of construction costs through additional major gifts, and through a campaign that will make available 1,600 of the Comcast Center's 17,000 seats to major gift donors, said Joe Hull, associate director of athletics for development. SFX Sports Group, which helped to structure the partnership between the university and Comcast, has been retained by the university to help identify additional corporate partners. The Maryland Stadium Authority will seek state funding for the remainder of the costs.
Construction on the Comcast Center is expected to begin in summer 2000. The Maryland Stadium Authority has been working with Ellerbe Beckett as project architect and Gilbane/Smoot as construction manager.
"We look forward to a long and successful partnership with the University of Maryland," said Steve Burch, regional senior vice president, Comcast's Mid-Atlantic Region and a Maryland alumnus. "We are positive that students at the University of Maryland will benefit from our services on campus and in their residences. As a leading national telecommunications company, Comcast is excited to have its name connected with one of the most prestigious public institutions of higher learning in the entire nation."
"The university has been planning to accommodate student wishes for cable television service in the residence halls," said William W. Destler, vice president for research, who led the negotiations for the university. "Cable television is a benefit provided in many college residence halls around the country, and we're pleased that this partnership will allow us to meet this need at competitive rates."
Comcast, which provides cable service in Prince George's County, will provide basic cable, with dozens of channels, to all rooms beginning in fall 2000, according to the agreement.
Comcast will have its name on one of the most visible collegiate basketball facilities in the nation and will have major marketing opportunities within the arena, including the most prominent advertising locations. The perennially successful Maryland Terrapins teams will assure Comcast regular regional and national television exposure.
Philadelphia-based Comcast reported more than $5 billion in revenues in 1998. The company has more than 5.5 million residential cable customers and will soon have more than 82 percent of the cable market in Maryland. About 4,000 of the company's 10,000 cable division employees work in the state of Maryland.
In addition to Comcast cable television, the company owns the QVC home shopping network and E!, which reach 70 million and 55 million American homes, respectively. The company also provides high-speed Internet access in 14 metropolitan markets, including several in Maryland. The company's Spectacor division also owns the Philadelphia Flyers, 76ers and Phantoms and two indoor sports arenas. Comcast Cable serves nearly 1.5 million customers in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK) is among the world's leading communication companies. Providing basic cable, digital cable and high speed Internet services, Comcast Cable is the company to look to first for the communications products and services that connect people to what's important in their lives. The company's more than 10,000 cable division employees are dedicated to serving more than 5.5 million customers in six geographic regions by delivering innovative technology products and high quality customer service.
