Huntington National Bank said Wednesday it has agreed to pay $2.5 million to keep its name on Toledo’s downtown arena through 2022.

Huntington paid $2.1 million in 2010 for the naming rights to what then was the 6-month-old Lucas County Arena.

Since then, it has been known as Huntington Center.

“The initial term was for six years and we’ve gone four-and-a-half, almost five years. The way our agreement was written was we had to provide notice, 18 months prior to expiration, of our intent to re-up on the agreement. So we are signing up for another six years as naming sponsor,” said Sharon Speyer, president of Huntington’s Northwest Ohio region.

It is the first of three six-year extension options that Huntington negotiated in April, 2010.

Ms. Speyer said when Columbus-based Huntington first secured the naming rights to the 8,000-seat arena, which is home to the Toledo Walleye hockey team and also hosts concerts, shows, and other entertainment events, the downtown venue was in its infancy.

“We bought into a great idea, and they more than delivered,” she said. “When we made the decision to sponsor the naming rights, we knew that downtown Toledo would thrive with additional entertainment. And with additional entertainment would come restaurants and bars and more people.

“I look at what it’s like when I leave the office today in comparison to what it was like five years ago and it’s very different,” Ms. Speyer said. “I think a lot of it has to do with what’s going on in downtown Toledo, and I think Huntington Center is a huge part of that.”

The bank’s senior officials in Columbus made the decision to renew the naming rights, and the request that Huntington spend another $2.5 million was not made lightly, Ms. Speyer said.

Though it operates in six states, Huntington has only paid to put its corporate moniker on one other venue — Huntington Park baseball stadium in Columbus.

Ms. Speyer said it was a “collaborative decision” to spend the $2.5 million in Toledo, “but ultimately it needed to be approved by our CEO [Stephen Steinour] and he did so very happily because it’s truly a gem for northwest Ohio, and this market it very important to Huntington.”

Joe Napoli, president and general manager of the Walleye and the Toledo Mud Hens baseball club, said the partnership between the bank and the arena has been beneficial for both. More importantly, Huntington Center has been good for downtown Toledo.

“We don’t know this for a fact, but what we keep hearing is the apartments are sold out downtown, the condos are sold out downtown, so the impetus of Huntington Center is to make year-round activity, to double the impact on downtown to about a million visitors between Fifth Third Field and Huntington downtown,” he said. “And now we’re at that tipping point with ProMedica coming downtown, and if they bring another 1,000 people, again, that could be 200 apartments that are needed for people that want to walk to work,” Mr. Napoli added.

Steve Miller, general manager of SMG, the firm that manages Huntington Center, said the venue normally draws from among 850,000 people living within a 60-mile radius of downtown. For bigger-name acts, the draw is even farther, he said.

The venue fills for most events, Mr. Miller added, and the reasons consumers like Huntington Center are simple. “Downtown is small, parking is cheap, it’s easier to get in and out, and seating is good at only 8,000 seats,” he said.

The entertainment industry likes Huntington Center also, Mr. Miller said. “I think the promoters, the agents they all love the building. It’s easy to get in and out with loading, and the acoustics are great.”

Venues Today, a trade magazine, has ranked Huntington Center the No. 1 venue in the 12-state Midwest region for five straight years among 5,000 to 10,000-seat venues. Most recently, the magazine ranked the arena the No. 8 venue in the world in that size category.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.

First Published October 30, 2014, 4:04 a.m.