Is the City of Lakeland currently negotiating naming rights for the RP Funding Center?
The 2017 name change was part of a multi-million, five-year deal that included naming rights and making the center the home of the Lakeland Magic, the G-League affiliate of the NBA’s Orlando Magic. At the time, Robert Palmer was the owner of the Orlando-based RP Funding mortgage lending company.
The city has not disclosed who is in the negotiations for naming rights, but RP Funding Center Director Tony Camarillo said several entities are in the running and he hopes to conclude negotiations “as soon as possible.”
Lakeland City Commissioners today agreed to a one-year extension of Lakeland Magic’s contract to use the RP Funding Center.
The contract approved today extends most of the provisions of the Lakeland Magic’s 2017 contract but includes several changes:
- The fee that Magic pays to use the facility for games rises from $8,442 per game to $9,000 per game.
- The Magic are no longer exclusive sales agents for naming, advertising, and signage at the facility.
- The revenue split between the Magic and the city “derived from advertising, naming, and signage relating to center assets” is now 50-50. Previously the split was 70% for the Magic and 30% for the city.
- The city retains the right to negotiate with third parties for naming rights “and to reject any naming rights deal that does not provide the City with the greater of $250,000 per year or 50% of naming rights revenue.”
- The city will pay the Magic $3 per parking ticket on vehicles coming to games. That rate is consistent with other sports teams such as the Florida Tropics that play at the facility, city officials say. Until now, the city has paid $2 per vehicle for all games with attendance of 2,500 or more.
The city issued a request for proposal in June seeking an outside company to manage the RP Funding Center. The request went to 372 companies, but the city said it received no valid responses.