When the Carolina Hurricanes open their season Oct. 12 against Columbus at home, they will still be staking at PNC Arena.
PNC and the Hurricanes have agreed to a 90-day extension of their 20-year lease agreement, which was set to expire on Aug. 31. The entities are in an exclusive negotiation period, Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell told WRAL.
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The arena, first called the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena, has been named PNC Arena since March 2012. Before that, it was called the RBC Center. But PNC took over the lease as part of its acquisition of part of RBC. The 20-year agreement was worth $80 million.
The naming rights agreement came up during a meeting of the Centennial Authority's finance committee Wednesday. The Centennial Authority owns the arena, but Gale Force Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of the Hurricanes, can sell the naming rights.
As part of its latest lease agreement with the Authority, signed in 2021, Gale Force pays the arena $1.885 million per year for naming rights -- with or without a deal.
"Gale Force and the bank, PNC, are in negotiations as we speak for an extension to that agreement," Centennial Authority CFO John House told the committee. "They signed a 90-day extension, if you will, to finalize that extension."
Asked by a board member about the long-term naming rights, Waddell demurred.
"We're in negotiations right now," Waddell said.
He confirmed to WRAL after the meeting that the Hurricanes are in exclusive negotiations with PNC, a Pittsburgh-based bank and financial services company. PNC has the naming rights for several other sports venues across the country, including PNC Park in Pittsburgh (home to MLB's Pirates) and PNC Stadium in Houston (home to soccer's Houston Dynamo and Dash as well as the Texas Southern football team).
The Hurricanes, seeking a fifth consecutive playoff appearance, began preseason play Tuesday night with a victory against Tampa Bay at PNC Arena.
With the 90-day extension, the arena will be called PNC Arena when the Hurricanes open their season and when NC State's men's basketball takes the court for the first time this regular season against Austin Peay on Nov. 7.
NC State will receive $360,000 from the naming rights this fiscal year. The school's portion comes from the Authority's $1.885 million.
NC State has a naming rights fund, which it uses for improvements at PNC Arena and Carter-Finley Stadium. The school spent more than $778,000 between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022 on projects. Nearly $700,000 was for the improvements in the North End Zone and Tuffy's Terrance project at Carter-Finley Stadium.