The home of the Pacers and Fever, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, will need a new name after the 2018-19 season when the original 20-year lease is up.
CNO Financial group will not extend its naming-rights deal, which will expire on June 30, 2019, the company announced on Tuesday. That also marks the end of the NBA’s fiscal year.
CNO Financial — which provides health and life insurance, as well as retirement solutions, to middle-income Americans — has owned the naming rights since the building first opened in November, 1999. It was first known as Conseco Fieldhouse, then renamed Bankers Life Fieldhouse in December of 2011 after one of their subsidiaries.
“CNO Financial and Bankers Life have been the naming rights sponsor of the Fieldhouse for nearly two decades, and we achieved and exceeded many of our sponsorship goals throughout the length of this partnership,” said Gary Bhojwani, chief executive officer of CNO Financial. “CNO is proud to be headquartered in central Indiana and to support the communities where our associates live and work. We are actively working with Pacers Sports & Entertainment to identify the next phase of our collaboration together.”
The Fieldhouse hosts more than 600 events each year, and PS&E will pursue a new naming rights sponsor.
“CNO has been an outstanding team partner since day one of our relationship, with a tremendous impact on both Pacers Sports & Entertainment and the community,” Pacers Sports & Entertainment President and COO Rick Fuson said in a statement. “We thank CNO Financial and Bankers Life for years of dedicated partnership and we look forward to the next phase of our relationship.”
The NBA is bringing All-Star Weekend back to Indianapolis in 2021, which is sure to be a selling point for Pacers Sports & Entertainment as they consider future partners. The Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament will be played there in 2019, 2020, and 2021, plus the men’s tournament in 2020.
