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The longtime home of the Minnesota Wild is getting a name change.
The Xcel Energy Center — the downtown St. Paul hockey arena — will be renamed the Grand Casino Arena on Sept. 3.
The rink opened in 2000, the first year of the Minnesota Wild, and has been named the Xcel Energy Center, or the X, since then.
Minnesota Sports & Entertainment, which operates Xcel Energy Center, announced the 14-year naming rights partnership Monday.
“This will put the Grand Casino brand in front of millions of Minnesotans and visitors every year at hockey games, concerts and major events,” said Virgil Wind, the chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, in a statement on YouTube. “It also puts our story, the story of the Mille Lacs, Band of Ojibwe, on a statewide and national stage.”
The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe owns Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley.
The interior and exterior signage on the facility will be replaced, including the center ice logo. All of that will be changed before the start of the 2025-2026 NHL regular season.
“Grand Casino Arena will serve as the anchor of a dynamic entertainment district that transforms downtown Saint Paul,” Craig Leipold, majority owner and principal investor in Minnesota Sports & Entertainment, 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.”
Xcel Energy will continue to have a partnership with the Minnesota Wild, the team said.
The arena also hosts the Minnesota Frost, concerts and several state high school championship tournaments.
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