Gesa Credit Union buys U.S. Pavilion title sponsorship rights for $2.6 million

Gesa Credit Union will purchase title sponsorship rights to the U.S. Pavilion for $2.6 million over the next 10 years.

The Spokane Park Board revealed Gesa’s naming rights contract for the first time Thursday afternoon after approving the contract. A blue light show, a play on Gesa’s branding colors, was scheduled for Thursday evening at what will now be officially known as the Gesa Credit Union Pavilion to celebrate the deal.

It’s not Gesa’s only, nor most expensive, naming rights deal in the region. In 2021, the credit union purchased the rights to the playing field at Washington State University’s Martin Stadium under a 10-year, $11 million agreement.

The Richland-based credit union has been in the news repeatedly in the last year, including for its major conversion of a former Applebee’s on the South Hill and its partnership with the Central Valley School District to open branches in local high schools.

The park board has been seeking a naming rights sponsor for the U.S. Pavilion since 2019, although efforts were stalled in 2020 and 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Attempts to find an interested party in 2022 and 2023 were unsuccessful.

In 2024, the board contracted with the Cleveland-based Superlative Group to seek a sponsor for the pavilion.

The deal is not without controversy, with opponents arguing it is inappropriate to sell the naming rights to one of the city’s most iconic monuments. In January, Mayor Lisa Brown expressed her opposition in a letter to the independent parks board, which had final approval in the matter.

Brandon Allison, Vice President of Community Impact at Gesa, said in a brief interview that the credit union’s team met with the mayor after learning of her letter.

“We absolutely appreciate the mayor’s concerns and are very sensitive to them,” Allison said. “We recognize the pavilion as a cornerstone of the community, and every decision we make is going to be respective of that.”

Lindsey Shaw, the park board’s newest member, abstained from voting on the agreement after expressing similar concerns to Brown, who appointed Shaw to the position.

“I really feel like our parks belong to the community, and it feels wrong in my heart to sell the pavilion,” Shaw said.

“I feel like it’s a huge giveaway,” she added. “$2 million is a lot of money, but 10 years is a long time, and what does that say for us as a city?”

Supporters argue that the deal will help ensure top-notch maintenance of the city’s marquee park and a continued emphasis on free public events and programming.

The park board hadn’t put the pavilion up for sale, argued board Chair Jennifer Ogden: it put the pavilion up for adoption.

“When we put something up for adoption, you put it up for adoption for its care,” Ogden said. “I think it will underwrite and support programming that will keep it free or very low cost for our families in a time when pocket books are going to be really pinched.”

Board member Sally Lodato noted she was also initially opposed to selling naming rights to the pavilion, but ultimately believed it was necessary to support Riverfront Park.

“We don’t really have a good choice to continue to allow our park to grow,” Lodato said. “We need to put some money in there, and we don’t have it.”

A naming rights deal would infuse the park with cash for maintenance that otherwise needs to be pulled from elsewhere. In addition to the rights fee, the sponsor has agreed to spend an extra $50,000 per year for “marketing and promotional activities” at the pavilion – Gesa has reportedly suggested a free concert that celebrates health care workers, first responders, veterans, teachers and other groups, for instance.

Perks included in the $2.6 million deal up for consideration are the right to updated signage in the pavilion in an area visible to traffic on Washington Street or the promenade, four branded social media posts per year, promotional booths 10 times a year, the right to install one permanent ATM at the pavilion, and complimentary tickets to events and park attractions, among many others.

The U.S. Pavilion was constructed ahead of the world’s fair coming to the Inland Empire in 1974 with funding from Congress shepherded by former U.S. Rep. Thomas S. Foley, of Spokane, and former Sens. Warren Magnuson and Henry Jackson.

The pavilion received a major facelift, along with the rest of Riverfront Park, using a $64 million park bond approved by voters in 2014. Led by NAC Architects, Garco Construction and Berger Partnership, the interior was reimagined with terraced grassy seating areas, an elevated walkway for scenic views and lighted “blades” decorating the cables overhead. The Spokane Park Board approved an additional $23.6 million in 2019 to complete the redesign.

This makes the third credit union to secure a major naming rights deal in the city in recent years.

The park board in 2019 agreed to sell the naming rights to the Riverfront Park skating ribbon to Numerica Credit Union for 10 years at a cost of around $90,000 per year. Naming rights to the Spokane Podium – or the Podium Powered by STCU – were sold to that credit union for 10 years by the Spokane Public Facilities District, an independent agency, in 2022 for around $100,000 per year.

The trend is no accident, according to a 2023 report from the Innovative Partnerships Group, which found credit unions were one of the fastest-growing purchasers of naming rights. In 2018, corporate marketing firm Bonham Wills suggested this marketing strategy was motivated by the “community oriented” image of credit unions.

“This appeals to many, and that is reflected by the growth that Credit Unions have seen across North America,” the firm wrote in 2018. “Yet, Credit Unions must remain true to the beliefs that they are founded on amidst this growth, and naming rights opportunities grant them that opportunity.”