Exterior photo of Time Warner Cable Arena. Home of the Charlotte Hornets.

Image Credit: James Willamor (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Professional basketball has been through the wringer in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Charlotte Hornets originally vacated for New Orleans in 2002. Charlotte's WNBA team, the Sting, folded in 2007. The old Charlotte Coliseum was demolished and Time Warner Cable Arena was erected. The Charlotte Bobcats reappeared in 2004 as an expansion team and performed terribly for many years. Michael Jordan purchased a stake in the team in 2010 and basketball fans became more optimistic about their future. Jordan changed the name of the franchise's name back to the Hornets with the hopes of giving the organization a face-lift and new feel. And now, Time Warner Cable Arena is changing it's name to the Spectrum Center in light of a $55 billion merger.

Spectrum is a brand of television and internet under the Charter Communications umbrella. Charter Communications bought out Time Warner Cable earlier this year and will take over the sponsorship agreement for the Hornets' home arena in Uptown Charlotte. The name change will require Charter Communications to provide the labor and costs involved with changing the arena's signage throughout the property. The original naming rights deal with Time Warner Cable was signed in 2008 and will expire in 2028. The exact financial terms of the deal were not disclosed with the public. However, experts close to the organization suggest that the deal pays the Charlotte Hornets organization in the neighborhood of $5 million per season. 

The Spectrum Center is currently in the process of renovating; part of a $27 million upgrade that was agreed upon in 2014. The arena's $7 million scoreboard was recently completed in September before the beginning of the 2016-2017 NBA season. The scoreboard is one of the biggest and most technologically advanced scoreboards in the NBA. 

 

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