TD Garden, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is an iconic venue deeply rooted in the city's history. TD Garden serves as the home of the storied Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics, and hosts more than 200 public and private events each year, making it a focal point for sports and entertainment enthusiasts year-round.
In 1995, the new arena was built just 9 inches from the historic Boston Garden, and opened its doors on September 30. In 2005, TD Banknorth secured the naming rights to the arena, and it became known as “TD Banknorth Garden”, reinstating the beloved Garden moniker, a move embraced by the passionate fanbase. After a 2009 merger, TD Banknorth became TD Bank, leading to the arena’s current name, TD Garden.
With TD Bank’s agreement originally set to expire in 2025, the naming rights extension announced in January 2023 added another 20 years to the already existing relationship. Typical naming rights extensions in this capacity range from 3 to 20 years in length. It is very rare that extension agreement deals fall into the 20 year range. The naming rights sponsorship market is in high demand for promotion of services, customer retention and the increase of market share.
The naming rights extension agreement event aimed to boost excitement and awareness for the longstanding partnership, reaffirming the enduring presence of the TD Garden name, and showcasing TD Bank and TD Garden's commitment to the community, fans, and New England region.
In the latest extension, TD Bank committed over $15 million to community programming for the next two decades, while also pledging to enhance the fan experience. These efforts encompass providing free concert and special event tickets to underserved communities, displaying local artwork in and around the arena, and providing customers and fans special access to TD Garden and all it has to offer. Specific initiatives under the renaming rights partnership are detailed below.
“Access The Arts”: With the extension, TD Bank committed $15M+ to the TD Garden community program making the arts more accessible and inclusive by launching two new community programs: "TD Guest List” and "TD Garden House Artist.” TD Guest List provides complimentary tickets to TD Garden experiences each year to an individual or group from a local underserved or underrepresented community. TD Garden House Artist commissions local artists from underrepresented communities within New England to create transformative art in and around the arena.
Fan Incentives: TD Bank customers now receive a 15% discount at ProShop powered by ‘47 and free admission to The Sports Museum located inside TD Garden on Levels 5, 6 & 9. Fast lanes at select concession stands and mobile gift cards are also available for TD Bank cardholders. Additionally, TD Bank enhanced the fan experience by installing the TD Fan Cam – an interactive experience where guests have a chance to see themselves on a live feed of a mini-Hub Vision.
Bank of the Bruins: TD Bank continues to sponsor a variety of initiatives with the Boston Bruins, including youth hockey events, Hockey is for Everyone Night and TD Bank Mini 1-on-1. The agreement also featured the continuation of the Small Business Takeover initiative, where TD Bank grants its advertising opportunities at TD Garden at least twice per season to a local small business for the duration of a game. The Bruins and TD Bank hosted Community Clubhouse opportunities at Bruins home games, where TD Bank provided youth groups and local New England, community-based organizations with blocks of tickets to every home game.
Renaming Event & Gameday Takeover: TD Garden and TD Bank joined forces to commemorate the significant milestone and partnership extension by hosting a renaming event and gameday takeover on January 12. The event featured speaking remarks, a banner unveiling in The Hub on Causeway, and a vibrant confetti moment, drawing a crowd of over 300 attendees. Notable guests included Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, TD Bank executives, TD Garden, Delaware North and Boston Bruins representatives, in addition to various community groups. The festivities extended into the evening with a TD Bank takeover during the Boston Bruins vs. Seattle Kraken game, featuring a pregame sizzle video, media interviews, multiple PA announcements regarding the partnership extension, and a keychain giveaways for fans.
This cross-functional initiative was supported and celebrated through media, email, social, web and app announcements. With more than 350 local and national media contacts and influencers, the news of the rebrand crossed the desks of ABC News, Bloomberg, Boston Globe, ESPN, NESN, Sports Business Journal, Sports Illustrated, NBC Boston and more. In addition, media drops were provided as supplemental coverage to media, helping aid the reach and brand awareness and create the social ‘buzz’ that only a sports and entertainment arena can.
From January 12-26, a campaign video, featuring the classic theme song from an iconic Boston show, "Cheers", highlighted historic partnership milestones, a banner unveiling, and confetti from the announcement. On Meta, it reached 1.8M+ accounts, with 786,950 impressions and 27,644 link clicks. Twitter/X garnered over 1.5M impressions and 4,859 clicks.
Email campaigns were created and sent out to TD Garden segmented viewers subscribed to the arena’s subscriber list of 200K Insiders. The Boston Garden Society email send for the arena’s premium ticket holders, had a high open rate of 53%.
