The University of Minnesota could receive over $1 million annually for selling the naming rights to Williams Arena, according to Navigate, a data-driven consulting firm in sports and entertainment. “Navigate expects average (Power Four) and Big East arena naming rights deals to command between $1.

The school announced Thursday it will explore selling naming rights to Williams Arena, the nearly century-old facility that currently hosts men's and women's basketball, in addition to other sports. Williams,

A naming-rights deal would help shrink the financial gap, but not bridge it by itself. For example, 3M, the Fortune 500 giant in Maplewood, agreed to a 14-year sponsorship deal naming rights to the home of men’s hockey, Mariucci Arena, in 2017. That’s worth $11.2 million for the life of the contract.