Downtown Milwaukee's expanding convention center is getting a new name. It's now tied to Baird & Co.
Downtown Milwaukee's Wisconsin Center convention facility, which is undergoing a $456 million expansion, is getting a new name tied to wealth management and financial services firm Baird & Co.
The convention center, which will finish its expansion project in May 2024, is to be renamed Baird Center, according to a Friday announcement from the Wisconsin Center District, the state-created agency which operates the facility.
The district board authorized the district to finalize an agreement with Baird to become the official naming rights partner of the Wisconsin Center.
The 15-year agreement is to begin in May 2024, just two months before the center helps host the Republican National Convention.
The taxpayer-owned district isn't disclosing how much Baird is paying due to "competitive/bargaining reasons," said Sarah Maio, vice president of marketing and communications.
"We have a long-term sponsorship strategy in place," Maio told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Revealing the financial component could put us at a competitive disadvantage for future agreements."
Baird has served as the district's financial adviser and played a key role in the 2020 bond sale which helped finance the expansion.
“The ideal naming rights partner would be homegrown, have a world-class reputation and, for the greatest possible success, share our core values and commitment to the city of Milwaukee," said District President and Chief Executive Officer Marty Brooks, in a statement.
"Baird meets and exceeds those qualifications and will give our convention center, and our city, yet another spectacular reason for visitors to add Milwaukee to their list of not-to-be-missed destinations," Brooks said.
“This agreement fits with our ongoing efforts to build Baird’s brand across our global footprint and reflects our longstanding commitment to giving back to the communities where we live and work,” said Baird Chairman and CEO Steve Booth.
“The new state of the art convention center will enhance Milwaukee’s growing reputation as a modern, forward-looking city, and we are honored to support and be part of its success," he said.
Wisconsin Center has had three naming right sponsors — all of them airlines — since it opened in 1998. But it hasn't had a sponsor since 2013.
The convention facility initially was known as the Midwest Express Center, named for the Oak Creek-based carrier. That later changed to Midwest Airlines Center, reflecting the company's name change.
After Midwest Airlines was sold in 2009 to Republic Airways Holdings Inc., it was phased out in favor of Republic-owned Frontier Airlines. And the convention center became known as the Frontier Airlines Center.
After that agreement expired, Delta Airlines sponsored a new name: Delta Center. That lasted only one year, and ended in June 2013.
The Wisconsin Center District's other downtown venues also have naming rights agreements, including UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and Miller High Life Theatre.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Baird Center to be new name for Milwaukee's convention center
