St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center, home of the Wild, to become Grand Casino Arena

After 25 years as Xcel Energy Center, downtown St. Paul’s premier hockey venue will have a new name: Grand Casino Arena.

The 14-year naming rights partnership, announced in a news release Monday, will begin Sept. 3. The NHL’s Minnesota Wild and PWHL’s Frost use the arena as home ice, and it also hosts major concerts and events, including the state high school hockey tournament.

“Grand Casino Arena will serve as the anchor of a dynamic entertainment district that transforms downtown St. Paul,” Wild owner Craig Leipold said in a statement. “The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe has been a strong supporter of and investor in this city. We are thrilled for their partnership and support of the arena.”

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe opened Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley in the early 1990s. The band’s business arm, Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures (MLCV), has had a presence in downtown St. Paul for more than a decade. In 2013, it acquired the InterContinental St. Paul Riverfront and DoubleTree by Hilton, part of ongoing efforts to diversify tribal revenue beyond gaming.

“This is more than a name change — it’s a signal of where we’re headed as a business,” Ronda Weizenegger, chief executive officer of Grand Casino, said in a statement. “Grand Casino Arena represents the strength of tribal enterprise and our ongoing investment in Minnesota’s future.”

It’s the end of an era for the X, as fans have called the venue. The arena has been home to the Wild since its construction for the NHL expansion team’s first season in 2000. That was shortly after Xcel Energy formed from the merger of Northern States Power and two other companies.

The name change comes at a critical juncture for the facility and the neighborhood.

The project is a key part of city boosters’ downtown revitalization strategy, which aims to add public-facing restaurants and retail to the building’s exterior. Officials have previously said they believe the effort would spark private development in the area. Leipold in particular has expressed interest in a 650-room convention center hotel.

In an interview, Wild CEO Matt Majka said the team and the city were “disappointed but not discouraged” by the outcome at the Legislature. Both parties are “regrouping” to determine how to move forward, he said.

“The arena complex is the very first priority,” Majka said. “That remains the case. After that, all the other private development that we may pursue becomes an exciting opportunity for lots of different potential partners.“

Majka said the Wild spoke to “a lot of interested parties” as Xcel Energy’s naming rights were set to expire.

Grand Casino quickly emerged as a serious contender. Weizenegger said her team was drawn to the chance to “use the platform as a launchpad to build relationships with regional and national brands.”

MLCV was one of several of groups vying in 2020 to redevelop the city-owned RiverCentre parking ramp across the street from the RiverCentre Convention Center and the arena. Those plans went on hold during the pandemic, but at the time, MLCV proposed a 500-room hotel, dine-in movie theater, “game-and-gather center,” office space and condos for the site.

The company also owns the DoubleTree hotel in St. Louis Park and an Embassy Suites in Oklahoma City. In 2019, MLCV launched a government contracting business. Last year, it built a 50,000-square-foot cannabis cultivation facility behind Grand Casino Mille Lacs, including a dispensary that held its grand opening earlier this month.

Fans can expect “digital activations” and “in-arena surprises” as part of the Grand Casino experience, according to a statement from Jeff LaFrance, Grand Casino’s head of marketing. When asked whether MLCV has plans to expand its gaming and hospitality footprint in downtown St. Paul, Weizenegger said “nothing’s out of the question.”

“I think the opportunity and the focus right now is really creating that experience for our guests,” she said. “Certainly as the landscape evolves around gaming within the state of Minnesota, those will be opportunities that we continue to explore. But right now, it’s really about creating the memorable experiences both at the arena and within properties for Grand Casino.”

Officials from the team and Grand Casino declined to disclose financial terms of the deal.

Minnesota’s professional sports facilities have also landed lucrative deals. When the new Vikings stadium was under construction, U.S. Bank agreed to pay $220 million for 25 years of naming rights. Target Corp. signed a 15-year, $18.75 million deal for the Timberwolves arena in 1990, and naming rights were extended for an undisclosed length of time in 2015.

The X’s naming rights in 2000 were worth $3 million per year in cash and services. The fee was to go 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 deal 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 about the arena naming rights. “This will give us a major presence, let us put our stake down.”

Xcel will continue to be a sponsor of the Wild. The release said the arena’s new exterior and interior signage will be up before the start of the 2025-26 NHL season this fall.