The arena formerly known as Xcel? Wild announce naming rights are up for grabs

The Minnesota Wild’s and Frost’s home ice will get a new name next season.

Naming rights for the St. Paul hockey arena and event venue currently known as Xcel Energy Center are up for grabs, the Wild announced Tuesday afternoon, though Xcel will still be a sponsor of the team.

The Wild expect to announce a new “arena naming rights partner” before the 2025-26 NHL season begins, according to a Tuesday release.

“We are extremely thankful for our 25-year naming and team marketing rights partnership with Xcel Energy,” said Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold in a statement.

The Xcel Energy Center has been home to the NHL’s Minnesota Wild for 25 years — since the NHL expansion team replaced the departed North Stars in 2000, and shortly after Xcel Energy was formed from the merger of Northern States Power and two other companies.

Bob Frenzel, Xcel Energy’s chairman, president and chief executive, said in a statement that the decadeslong partnership has helped the Wild and Xcel go from unknown names to brands that are easily recognized across Minnesota.

The name change comes at a crucial juncture for the arena.

The Wild’s owners have been pushing a $769 million renovation of the arena complex, which also includes the RiverCentre convention hall and the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. The team and St. Paul hope the Legislature will kick in half the cost, though it’s not clear if there is any appetite at the Capitol.

Former House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, has said she would not support a subsidy to renovate the Wild’s arena.

The arena is the home of the state high school hockey tournaments, hosts events and big concerts and is considered one of downtown’s linchpins. Blocks of restaurants and hotels built up near W. 7th Street and Kellogg Boulevard rely on traffic from the Xcel Energy Center.

As a continued team sponsor, Xcel Energy will still have signs at the arena and on the Wild’s website. The company and the Wild will also provide grants to youth and high school hockey programs.

According to Minnesota Star Tribune archives, the naming rights in 2000 were worth $3 million per year in cash and services. The naming rights fee was to be paid directly to the Wild to offset the $3.5 million in rent the team owed the city, which helped pay back the publicly funded construction of the $130 million arena.

The then-newly formed utility company saw the naming rights as an opportunity to make a mark in the Twin Cities.

“Xcel Energy is not on everybody’s lips,” then-Xcel Energy Chair Jim Howard told the Star Tribune in 2000 of the arena naming rights. “This will give us a major presence, let us put our stake down.”