Xcel Energy Center to be renamed Grand Casino Arena

The Minnesota Wild on Monday announced the new name for their St. Paul arena: Grand Casino Arena.

Why it matters: It's a big change for Minnesota sports and music fans, who have only known the venue as Xcel Energy Center since it opened in 2000.

The latest: The "X" branding will be retired on Sept. 3, when a 14-year naming rights deal begins between the Wild and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, which owns casinos in Mille Lacs and Hinckley.

• Wild CEO Matt Majka declined to disclose the price Grand Casino paid for the rights.

Between the lines: Renaming a sports venue doesn't always get full uptake from fans. Already, people on social media are saying they'll keep calling it "The X."

What they're saying: Majka told Axios that team employees are committed to the new name.

• "They're making a major commitment to us, and so we will always respect the name Grand Casino in all of our communications and our employees are fully aware of that."

Grand Casino CEO Ronda Weizenegger told Axios the naming rights will allow the tribe to tell the story of its rich history and its economic development progress.

• "This is more than a name change — it's a signal of where we're headed as a business," she said in a statement.

Context: The naming rights adds to the Mille Lacs Band's interests in downtown St. Paul. In 2013, it purchased the InterContinental St. Paul-Riverfront and DoubleTree hotels

Zoom in: Crews will replace all signage inside and outside the building to reflect the new branding before the start of the 2025-26 NHL regular season, the team said.

What we're watching: Officials with the City of St. Paul — which owns the "X" — have joined with the Wild in recent years to ask the state Legislature to help pay for renovations to the arena. The project has not received funding.