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Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Executive Director Dan Hartman on the DECC Arena naming rights sponsorship opportunity: "At today's Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) board meeting, board members greenlighted the facilities efforts to seek a naming rights sponsor for DECC Arena. This sponsor will help cover the annual cost of operating ice for Youth Hockey and Figure Skaters.
Last summer, the DECC held a series of listening sessions around Duluth and the region, and one piece of feedback was that ice accessibility is sacred. These same listening sessions also asked that the DECC be financially sustainable. In an effort to do both, we are looking for a corporate sponsor for the DECC Arena in a similar way that our newest arena is named AMSOIL Arena. This corporate sponsorship would cover our annual operating expenses, which last year after ice rental was still over $150,000. These costs include Zamboni expenses to staff costs to the electrical fees to run the compressors that make and maintain ice. In addition to the listening session feedback, one of the larger events booked in DECC Arena during the winter timeline has canceled, freeing the space for ice. These two factors led to a direction change.
In addition to helping make ice a reality again, the sponsor will get its name on the second most popular venue behind AMSOIL Arena. DECC Arena hosts some of Duluth’s biggest events from Grandma’s Marathon to the Arrowhead Home & Builders Show. Lately, we have been having more concerts in that space as well, such as Theory of Deadman and Sevendust this past August. Last year, AMSOIL Arena saw 195,000 people and DECC Arena saw 175,000. To give further context, Bayfront Festival Park in its record attendance year in 2023 saw 95,000. Long story short, this will be great exposure to whatever company steps forward.
Our goal would be to find a sponsor by the end of 2026."
