Panthers partnership with Amerant Bank may soon include new arena name

The building has been called FLA Live Arena since 2021 when the naming deal for BB&T Center expired

The big hockey barn in Sunrise may be getting a new name.

Since first opening its doors in 1999, back then dubbed the National Car Rental Center, the Florida Panthers’ home arena has had several monikers during its history.

It went from NCRC to the Office Depot Center in 2002, and a few years later in 2005 became the BankAtlantic Center, as BankAtlantic was headquartered in South Florida at the time.

The name stuck longer than any other, lasting until 2012 when BB&T bought BankAtlantic and as such, the arena name changed to BB&T Center.

When that naming agreement ended in 2021, the arena became FLA Live Arena while officials began searching for a new partner.

It now appears the building finally has a new name. Based off a photo circulating of center ice at the area, the name surrounding the Panthers 30th Anniversary logo is Amerant Bank Arena.

The photo can be seen in the post below, courtesy of our friend @David954FLA.

THN reached out to the Panthers for comment but the team said there was nothing to confirm at this time.

It’s a move that would make sense as the Panthers and Amerant Bank have an existing partnership that started in 2021 when the bank became Florida’s helmet branding partner.

Then, back in November of last year, Amerant became the official bank of the Panthers, and the team’s premium center ice seats behind the player benches became known as the Amerant Vault.

"We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Amerant and elevate their status to become the official bank of the Panthers and FLA Live Arena," Panthers Chief Revenue Officer Shawn Thornton said at the time. "Looking ahead, we are excited for Amerant Bank to offer their world-class customer service and banking experience to our fans, staff and South Florida community."

Amerant describes itself as the largest community bank that is headquartered in Florida.

The bank also has local sports partnerships with the Miami Heat and University of Miami Hurricanes.