All Entries Tagged With: "Jim Host"

Ulmer Works Arena On Golf Course

Jim Host deservedly gets the lion’s share of credit for the construction of the University of Louisville’s brand new KFC Yum Center basketball home. But Dan Ulmer, former chairman of the old Citizens Fidelity Bank & Trust Company, played a key role in obtaining the $13.5 million naming rights.

Ulmer, a co-owner of the Louisville Bats Triple A baseball franchise and a member of the Louisville Arena Authority, owns a house in Florida located near Yum executive David Novak’s vacation home. The two often ran into each other on a golf course, and the arena was a topic of frequent discussion.

Louisville was apparently fortunate in obtaining the naming rights at a time when corporate naming rights deals have been drying up. Such glamorous venues as the new Dallas Cowboys stadium and the New Meadowlands facility in New Jersey are without corporate sponsorships.

Portfolio.com includes a good in-depth story on the Yum negotiations here.

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Duke Possible Opening Foe In Louisville Arena

The observer likes the sound of that, Louisville vs. Duke on the marquee at the opening game of U of L’s new 22,000-seat downtown arena.

How ironic is Host’s involvement anyway? He’s involved in everything involving the arena.

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Louisville Arena By Night

The lights are on  at the construction site of the new downtown arena, which will serve as the new home of the University of Louisville basketball team. The opening will be Nov. 1, 2010, a mere 486 days away. President James Ramsey awarded the U of L Presidential  Medal to Chairman Jim Host and board members of the Louisville Arena Authority this week. Here’s a link to the arena web cam.

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Jim Host Shows Off Louisville Basketball Arena

Cool under fire Jim Host, the man you want in your fox hole, the individual with the vision, the muscle, the finesse, the man responsible for making the new University of Louisville basketball arena possible. 

Jim Host

He says the arena will be the ultimate, the most comprehensive, the finest NCAA basketball facility in the nation, the state of the art, better than most NBA facilities.

The man acquired the financing on the eve of a national economic crisis, made light work of the political process (even getting the enthusiastic support of Kentucky Senate Chairman David Williams, the legislative behemoth who gained power opposing everything in sight), and continues to shepherd this incredible project through every imaginable hurdle.

In his own inimitable style, Host conveys the scope and splendor of the new facility, which will open in November 2010:

Courier-Journal Video

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Never one to shy away from elephants in the room, Jim Host told WHAS-11 that the University of Kentucky would be much better off playing its annual December games in Louisville at Freedom Hall.

Host said, “(University of Kentucky basketball) in my judgment would be far better off to play in Freedom Hall because there they won’t have any conflicts with UofL dates. The problem the University of Louisville and UofK have always had, is UofL doesn’t get their dates until the very end, having to do with the Big East Conference (scheduling).  University of Kentucky basketball is trying to schedule December dates for playing Indiana and other teams like that.  So I think what you’ll see and I don’t know this to be the case . . . I think you’ll see (Kentucky basketball) staying at Freedom Hall which would make sense to me.”

That, of course, raises the very real possibility of both programs playing other teams at different Louisville venues on the same day. That would be incredible “Game Day” programming for ESPN, broadcasting from the basketball capital of the world.

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Name The Downtown Arena

The chairman of the Louisville Arena Authority reports that the group is closing in on naming rights for the new downtown arena, with three companies currently vying for the honor. Jim Host expressed confidence after Monday’s meeting that the authority can get $40 million over 20 years for the rights.

The parties involved in those negotiations have been a closely guarded secret. This allows for a lot of idle speculation on the part of greatly interested fans. Which company will have its name on the University of Louisville basketball palace, the future crown jewel of college basketball kingdom? On what will be the most prominent feature in the city’s skyline, their identity becoming an integral part of the community’s identity, featured indefinitely in pictorial atlases around the world? A few guesses:

United Parcel Service — The UPS folks love Louisville and especially the University of Louisville for creating tailored educational opportunities for their employees. Executives of the city’s largest employer also say they think the city is the ideal location for its major shipping hub. The company has already indicated that it will make a major contribution to the football stadium expansion, the extent of which has yet to be announced. The only drawback is the company’s corporate color is brown. Much creativity would be required to mesh brown with red and black.

YUM — Yum is the world’s largest restaurant company with nearly 36,000 establishments in 110 countries and territories. The corporate headquarters are based in Louisville. They have good relations with UofL, having already ponied up millions for Rick Pitino’s luxury-laden basketball practice facility on Floyd Street. One would hope, however, that the idea for a Kentucky Fried Chicken Bucket has been put on the back burner and relegated to the trash heap. There should be no confusion about whether this is a Louisville or Kentucky facility. We can live with Yum.

Papa John’s — Yeah, Papa John Schnatter withdrew his money for a downtown arena a while back but he could be having second thoughts. He could probably see the new arena from the location in Jeffersonville where he started his pizza empire as a young entrepreneur in a broom closet. Having the company’s name on the university’s two most prominent athletic facilities would make him one of the community’s most beloved civic leaders. We hear he’s back as the CEO, and he could make a little extra money in one of the world’s largest pizza houses.

Brown-Forman — A better name would be the Owsley Brown Frazier Arena for the former chairman of the company which has invested heavily in the community for decades. Frazier has probably personally donated almost as much as the company has over the years. Companies usually like to promote themselves or their products so he would probably demur.  But if anyone deserves to have their name featured so prominently on the city’s skyline, it is Owsley Brown Frazier.

Which companies do you think are negotiating for the rights? What name would you like to see on the new downtown arena?

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