Wisconsin Center makes a new push to sell its naming rights -- just as it prepares for a big expansion

Tom Daykin | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Wisconsin Center is making a new push to sell its naming rights — just as the downtown Milwaukee convention center prepares for a major expansion.

The Wisconsin Center District, the state-created agency that operates the convention center and other downtown venues, has hired a firm that will evaluate naming rights and other sponsorship opportunities, said Marty Brooks, the district's chief executive officer.

"We really haven't tried to maximize that revenue," Brooks said at a Thursday meeting of the district board's Governance Committee.

"It's low-hanging fruit," 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 the new name: Delta Center. That lasted only one year, and ended in June 2013.

The Wisconsin Center District's other downtown venues have naming rights, including UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and Miller High Life Theatre.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has seven years remaining on its agreement for the arena, Brooks said.

But MillerCoors' five-year agreement at the theater was signed in 2016.

"That could be an opportunity to go elsewhere," Brooks said.

As for the larger Wisconsin Center, there are other possible sponsors the district board will be considering.

The effort comes as the convention center prepares for a $300 million expansion.

Momentum for the project has picked up in recent months.

The 2019-'21 state budget, which took effect in July, includes a "moral obligation pledge" for the expansion project's bonds. That means state taxpayers would cover the debt if the district was unable to do so. That backing will help the district borrow money by selling bonds to investors.

A preliminary timeline calls for the board to vote in April on financing for the project, with June 15 set as a possible date to sell the bonds.

Construction could begin late next year or in early 2021.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.