Phoenix Suns Arena Is Now Footprint Center

PHOENIX, AZ — The Phoenix Suns have teamed up with Gilbert-based sustainability company, Footprint, on a naming rights deal for the team's downtown arena.

The deal, which was announced by Suns owner Robert Sarver on Friday, will change the arena's name from Phoenix Suns Arena to Footprint Center immediately.

"We've been one of the first to embrace a number of technologies to help us make the planet a better place and that's part of us giving back community and being good community partners," Sarver said. "And our agreement with Footprint is something that we think is going to be one of the most unique corporate sponsorships in all sports, and that's going to transform our arena."

The downtown arena, which opened in 1992, was previously called the America West Arena from 1992-2006; the US Airways Center from 2006-2015; Talking Stick Arena from 2015-2020; and Phoenix Suns Arena since 2020.

Footprint, which was founded by Troy Swope and Yoke Chung, is committed to creating change by eliminating single-use plastics.

Sarver said the team's decision to partner with Footprint stemmed in large part from the company's ties to the area, as well as their drive to rid the world of plastics that harm wildlife and delicate ecosystems.

"We started with a wide net of companies, nationally and internationally that could be a good fit for us," Sarver said. "And as a part of that, we decided to look in our own backyard and say, 'Who is it that's locally based that we should be talking to?' And as part of that process, we got to know Troy and his team over the last several months.

"The more time we spent with them, understanding their product and what they do and how they are going to become a household name."

Above all, Sarver said the team's decision to partner with Footprint moving forward stemmed from his belief in the work that Swope and company were doing to help the environment.

"We really bought into what they were doing," he said. "And the more we got to know him, I spent time in the plant, got to know their management, we got to know their directors, they got to know us.

"At the end of the day, we both felt very comfortable that we could execute this, and work together as a team going forward."