No more Ford Center: Thunder are negotiating new naming rights

Say goodbye to the Ford Center. The Thunder has announced they are in negotiations for new naming rights for the downtown arena.

The Oklahoma City Thunder has begun the process of negotiating with potential new naming rights partners for the Ford Center arena, team officials announced today. The original naming rights contract allowed the team to terminate the existing agreement should an NBA franchise come to Oklahoma City.

The Thunder entered into discussions with the current naming rights partner, the Oklahoma Ford Dealers, but a new agreement could not be reached. As a result, the Thunder has now officially terminated the existing naming rights agreement and entered into a period of negotiations with other potential partners.

Of course first one would have to think about the big corporations here in Oklahoma City. Big Thunder sponsors Devon Energy, Sandridge or Chesapeake have to be early contenders. Or maybe AT&T, as it owns naming rights to the baseball park in Bricktown. Or what about Sonic, which is based out of Oklahoma City. Oh wait, that’s probably not a good one.