Inspire Resort in naming rights deal for its arena with South Korean Internet giant Naver

Inspire Entertainment Resort says its 15,000-capacity arena (pictured) at the casino complex is be renamed ‘Naver Arena at Inspire’ under a three-year agreement due to take effect in December. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Inspire Entertainment Resort, a property with foreigner-only casino near Incheon International Airport in South Korea, and controlled by investment firm Bain Capital, gave the news in a Monday statement. The deal is described as “a naming-rights and strategic partnership agreement with Naver Corp”. The entertainment facility will be known for day-to-day purposes as ‘Naver Arena’. Naver Corp is a South Korean Internet-services conglomerate that operates the Naver search engine popular in that country. Per the update, “the two companies plan to explore collaboration opportunities across various areas, including live performance content and customer experiences, to develop Naver Arena at Inspire into a leading entertainment landmark representing South Korea.” Hanna Lee, Inspire’s chief marketing officer, was cited as saying the partnership “seeks to create new entertainment experiences by combining [South] Korea’s premier arena operations capabilities with the technology and service capabilities of [South] Korea’s leading platform company.” Under the deal, Inspire will be responsible for “securing a diverse lineup of live performances, sporting events and entertainment content as well as operating the arena”. Naver will exercise its branding and marketing rights as the naming-rights partner, “working with Inspire to develop new audience experiences and explore further collaboration models in areas such as facial-recognition-enabled venue entry and smart map and navigation services”. Jae-hoo Lee, head of Naver’s entertainment service division, was quoted saying: “Through close collaboration with Inspire, Naver will use ‘Naver Arena’ as a key landmark to introduce Team Naver’s branding, technology and services, and provide differentiated cultural experiences.” The executive added: “Going forward, we will engage users through a variety of benefits for Naver Plus membership subscribers and distinctive global events using technologies such as Npay Facesign.” The latter is a proprietary facial recognition authentication and payment service developed by Naver Pay in South Korea. It allows users to pay for goods, verify their identity, and clear airport checkpoints using only a face scan.