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Hurricanes extend naming rights agreement for PNC Arena after multiple extensions

PNC Arena, home of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes and the N.C. State men’s basketball team, will remain “PNC Arena” for at least two more years after the Canes and bank officials announced an agreement Wednesday.

At a special board meeting of the Centennial Authority, which officially owns and oversees the arena and its operation, the group agreed to the new agreement, which includes a two-year extension of the building’s naming rights, and a seven-year agreement overall between Gale Force Holdings — parent company of the Hurricanes — and PNC Bank. In addition to two years of building naming rights, PNC will have sponsorship of the “champions club” at the arena for seven years — a term that matches the currently agreed-to lease between the Centennial Authority and the Hurricanes.

No financial terms have been disclosed.

The original 20-year deal between the Hurricanes and what was originally RBC Centura Bank, worth $4 million per year, expired at the end of August, but the two sides continued to extend the negotiating window to pursue a long-term extension. Any naming-rights revenue is divided among the Hurricanes, N.C. State and the Centennial Authority.

The most recently negotiated lease agreement between the Hurricanes and Centennial Authority runs through Sept. 30, 2029, though longer-term deals have been discussed in conjunction with a major renovation project that would transform the 24-year-old arena into a more modern event venue.

The Centennial Authority and N.C. State receive a flat fee for naming rights, per the lease agreement, even if there is no naming rights sponsor. The Centennial Authority receives about $1.7 million, and N.C. State about $300,000 annually for naming rights.