Tampa Bay Lightning’s Home Arena Gets New Name in Multi-Year Deal

What a way to kick off 813 day with a major change to a Tampa. After 11 years, we will now be calling the Bolt's home arena Benchmark International Arena. Obviously for fans, this change won't happen overnight, as some people still refer to the arena as the Ice Palace.

The agreement provides $3 million to local nonprofits. Crews will put up new signs around the building, while VIP areas will see major renovations.

Built in 1996 for $139 million, the arena started as the Ice Palace. Tampa contributed $84 million, with the Lightning putting in $53 million for construction.

Over the years, the building has had several names. It changed to the St. Pete Times Forum in 2002, became the Tampa Bay Times Forum ten years after, and got the Amalie name in 2014.

Steven Keane, who heads Benchmark International, talked about community connections: "We are honored to partner with Vinik Sports Group and the Tampa Bay Lightning, organizations that, like us, are committed to delivering excellence and giving back to the community."

Some fans have already come up with some punchier nick names for the new takeover. "Benchmark International" seems like a bit of a mouthful, some folks on Twitter have already started referring it as "The Bench" or "BI Arena". Personally, we like The Bench.