Arizona announced a 15-year, $27.7 million naming rights deal with ALKEME Insurance for McKale Center on Friday. It will now be known as McKale Center at ALKEME Arena. The deal is the largest publicly known arena naming rights partnership in the Big 12, per Arizona Athletics.
The majority of basketball arenas in the Big XII are named for a corporate sponsorship or a major donor. Arizona announced a 20-year, $60 million naming rights deal to change the name to Casino Del Sol Stadium that began immediately.
McKale Center opened in 1973 at a cost of $8,145,077. That would be $61,752,974.00 when adjusted for inflation. McKale Center is named for J.F. "Pop" McKale, arguably the most important person in the history of Arizona Athletics. He once oversaw the Arizona football, baseball, basketball, tennis and track and field teams.
Per the Arizona Athletics release "Founded and led by University of Arizona alumni, ALKEME's investment reflects a belief in giving back to the institution that helped shape its leaders and in using sport as a catalyst to support education, opportunity, and economic growth across Arizona."
Arizona Athletics and ALKEME Insurance Announce Naming Rights Partnership for McKale Memorial Center
— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) February 13, 2026
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Announcement ahead of a big weekend
The naming rights announcement deal was made on the eve of a big weekend for Arizona. ESPN College Gameday will be live from McKale Center at ALKEME Arena on Saturday morning beginning at 8 AM Mountain Standard Time.
The Arizona women's basketball team hosts Arizona State on Saturday at noon. ESPN Gameday is in Tucson this weekend for the Texas Tech at Arizona men's basketball game that has a 4:30 PM tipoff on Saturday afternoon. The national attention on Arizona on Saturday will provide immediate publicity for ALKEME.
The Arizona women's basketball team has home games remaining on February 17 versus Colorado and February 24 versus Houston in addition to Arizona State. In addition to Texas Tech, the men have home games remaining against BYU on Tuesday, February 28, versus Kansas and also host Iowa State on March 2.