Hope Coliseum naming rights press conference summary
West Virginia held a press conference to discuss the naming rights of the Hope Coliseum and here is a summary of what was said.
–Tony Caridi said that the Coliseum is special and unique. It’s a Cathedral and they refer to it as a special place in all of college basketball.
Athletic Director Wren Baker
–Baker said that today is a great day for West Virginia athletics and Hope Gas. It’s great to announce this partnership. He loves when he’s in the Coliseum and it’s jam packed and when he’s in there alone. There are a lot of great memories in that building. In this new era of college athletics it’s critical to generate new revenue streams to remain competitive. They were able to fully participate in revenue sharing this year and will continue to do so in the future. If they wanted to do naming rights they wanted to do it with a company that shares the same values as West Virginia. WVU represents a ticket for another life and it represents hope. They share hard-work, integrity, grit, resiliency and understand what the Mountaineers mean to this state. Without Hope they would not have been at full revenue sharing. Hope has its headquarters in Morgantown. They have a focus on providing opportunities to West Virginians. Baker wanted to recognize all of the people that helped to get this across the finish line. He can’t wait to hear Country Roads in what will now be known as Hope Coliseum.
President Michael Benson
–Benson said that there are several things that are uniquely West Virginia. Singing Country Roads, the mascot, the Pride of West Virginia and the water tower on the Evansdale campus. And the fourth is the Coliseum. It’s aged very well but now it’s going to get some upgrades. He can’t thank Hope Gas and Morgan O’Brien enough. Today he hit his 29th county out of 55 but this is a wonderful place filled with incredible people. This is an investment on a university on the rise and he is so excited for the future.
Hope President and CEO Morgan O’Brien
–O’Brien said Hope Gas is 127 years old in West Virginia. He came here three years ago and brought 16 buses to Pittsburgh on the renewal of the Backyard Brawl. They’ve doubled the number of employees in West Virginia. They have a partnership with West Virginians. They’ve grown 30-percent of their footprint and cover 2/3s of the 55 counties in West Virginia. They’re so excited to partner with WVU. It is the professional organization in West Virginia and they’re excited about the future. West Virginia is for Hope but the real trick to their success is the partnership with Michael Benson. They’re partnering with the engineering school and giving those students opportunities. Kids can become who they want to become and they don’t have to leave West Virginia. They’re going to light it up with blue and gold lights and change the look of the Coliseum to take something iconic and make it really something special.
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