Royal Farms Wins Sponsorship Rights for Baltimore Arena

Maryland-based c-store chain will pay city $250,000 per year for five years.

September 19, 2014

BALTIMORE – In a unanimous vote earlier this week, the city of Baltimore, Maryland, voted to change the Baltimore Arena's name to the Royal Farms Arena in exchange for about $1.2 million over five years.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Baltimore-based convenience store chain — which is perhaps best known for its Western fries and fried chicken — would pay $250,000 annually to the city for five years, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun.

"I'm pleased that Royal Farms has stepped up,” Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was quoted as saying, in the Baltimore Sun.

Having its company name on the arena will help lift the profile of Hampden, Maryland-based Royal Farms, according to Frank Schilling, the chain's director of marketing and merchandising. Founded in 1959, the chain employs about 4,000 people and has about 160 stores in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The deal does not include the rights to sell food at the arena, which are negotiated under a separate contract, but the businesses will look at other ways to cross-promote, officials said.

Signs with the arena's new name will begin to go up over the next two months, officials said.

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