T-Mobile buys naming rights to new MGM/AEG Las Vegas arena

The new 20,000-seat arena being built by MGM and AEG on the Las Vegas strip now has a title name — the T-Mobile Arena, thanks to a naming sponsorship bought by the wireless carrier for an undisclosed amount.

Set to open in April, the new multi-purpose arena will be draped in the familiar magenta hues of T-Mobile branding and also offer “unique benefits” for T-Mobile customers who attend events there, including unspecified “VIP” fast-track entrances and early notification of ticket sales. Alan Snel of the Las Vegas Review-Journal estimates that the rights fees are probably in the near-$6 million per year range, with a deal length of 10 years.

What’s unclear is whether or not the “un-carrier” will actually have any hand in the wireless deployments inside the venue, since the deal for backbone bandwidth and Wi-Fi for the Vegas arena was given to Cox Communications back in December. Among the stadiums we’ve reviewed over the past few years, T-Mobile has trailed other cellular providers in joining stadium DAS networks but it’s a good bet that T-Mobile will act differently in the first sports venue to carry its name.

On our quick trip to Vegas for CES we didn’t see the stadium, but that was because we were looking in the wrong place — it’s not being built next to the MGM but across the strip and somewhat behind New York New York, according to pictures of the building on the new arena website. More as we learn more…