Georgia's Biggest Insurer Scores Naming Rights to Philips Arena
Staff Report From Metro Atlanta CEO
Thursday, August 30th, 2018
The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club and State Farm announced a 20-year collaboration that will benefit the Atlanta metropolitan area aimed at building stronger communities through mentorship, volunteerism and the principle of being a good neighbor. A nationally-renowned company and one of Georgia’s top employers, State Farm will join forces with the Hawks, displaying their iconic red logo and marks atop and throughout the best sports and live entertainment venue in Atlanta - the new State Farm Arena - and building new community engagement programs and philanthropic initiatives.
“This decision symbolizes our pledge to making a difference in communities, building our brand locally and nationally, and ultimately growing State Farm,” said State Farm Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Tipsord. “The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club is well known for giving back in this community. Along with our Neighborhood of Good initiative, we’ll have new opportunities to invest in the local community.”
With one of its three regional hubs based in Dunwoody, State Farm is an active member of the local community employing approximately 7,000 individuals with over 6,000 located in metro Atlanta. The insurance giant prides itself on activating its workforce in the communities in which they reside. Over the past four years, State Farm staff has volunteered over 2 million hours in their respective communities.
With a mission to be good ‘neighbors dedicated to helping people, and to developing safer, stronger and better educated communities across the country’ and to ‘turn caring into doing’, State Farm and the Hawks will co-create impactful community initiatives and bolster existing community and social responsibility programs.
“We are honored to work with State Farm, one of the nation’s most recognizable and civic-minded organizations and want to thank Michael Tipsord and Rand Harbert for their leadership and commitment to this exceptional collaboration,” said Principal Owner Tony Ressler. “Our ownership group considers the Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club a community asset, and we are excited to have found a partner that shares our vision and has committed to working with us to expand on the community engagement and philanthropic initiatives we do that benefit the many communities that make up this great metropolitan area. Generations will be positively impacted by the work we do throughout Georgia, and we could not be prouder to have the State Farm name on our new arena.”
State Farm Arena, the new home of the Hawks, will open its doors following the completion of the $192.5 million-dollar renovation, the 2nd largest in NBA history, and in time to celebrate the team’s 50th year in Atlanta in October. The transformed arena will feature the third-largest center-hung scoreboard in the NBA and most immersive video experience, new sightlines with 360-degree concourses and new seating and first-of-its-kind in-venue entertainment options with Topgolf Swing Suites, the company’s first permanent amenity in a major sports arena, Killer Mike’s SWAG Shop (a four-chair barbershop overlooking the court) and the signature Hawks Bar, the NBA’s first courtside bar. State Farm Arena will also be the first NBA venue to offer fan-friendly food pricing with 12 popular food and beverage items priced at $5 or less.
Consistently ranked among the top 10 concert and event venues in the world by Pollstar, State Farm Arena hosts approximately 170 events and nearly 2 million guests annually. Superstars already scheduled to visit the venue after it opens include Drake, Elton John, Justin Timberlake, P!nk, Shawn Mendes and Carrie Underwood.
Fans will get their first opportunity to enter the new State Farm Arena on Saturday, Oct. 20th with the “Welcome to the Neighborhood” Open House Party, a free, public event inviting fans to experience the new venue.