Amazon Buys Naming Rights to Seattle Stadium, Calls it Climate Pledge Arena

Amazon has secured the naming rights to Seattle's new downtown arena.

Amazon has secured the naming rights to Seattle's new downtown arena that will house the city's NHL team and the WNBA's Seattle Storm, according to a release from NHL Seattle. 

The stadium, however, will not feature the company's name and instead will be called Climate Pledge Arena.

"We've secured naming rights to the historic arena previously known as KeyArena," Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said. "Instead of naming it after Amazon, we're calling it Climate Pledge Arena as a regular reminder of the importance of fighting climate change."

The news release says that the stadium promises to provide a "transformational partnership" for the city and the Pacific Northwest. It includes a number of green initiatives, including being the first zero-carbon arena in the world, powered exclusively by renewable energy. 

According to the release, the stadium will run solely on electric for daily operations, eliminating all fossil fuels, and installing the first electric dehumidification system in the NHL. 

"Our goal is to make sure every visit to this arena will be enjoyable and memorable, and sustainability is a large part of that," Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group and leader of the arena project, said in a statement.

Among other changes, the arena promises that:

• It will be the first arena to ban single-use plastics and instead have functional zero waste
• It will have Rink ice to be made from rainwater, refrigerants with zero greenhouse gas emissions and electric Zambonis
• It will be the "lowest embodied carbon arena in the world"
• It will have locally sourced food, beer and wine 

The building is expected to be open in time for the NHL Seattle team's debut in 2021-22.

"Seattle is a place that values our incredible outdoor resources in the Pacific Northwest," said Tod Leiweke, CEO of NHL Seattle. "Right here in our hometown, a company made a challenge, and it was The Climate Pledge. Could we by 2040 change the world and dramatically reduce its carbon footprint? We're so proud to step forward with other leaders to say, yes we can."