What’s in a name? Kemper Arena renaming deal falls through

It’s back to being called Kemper Arena.

A plan to rename the West Bottoms arena to Mosaic Life Arena went by the wayside on Wednesday.

Mosaic Life Care, the member of the Mayo Clinic Member Network, had agreed to buy the naming rights to Kemper Arena as it redevelops into a recreational sports facility. But news came on Tuesday that Saint Luke’s would buy six of Mosaic Life Care’s eight clinics in the Northland, leading Mosaic Life Care to back out of the arrangement.

“As we built our Kansas City strategy, the Kemper Arena sponsorship was a terrific complement,” Mosaic Life Care chief executive Mark Laney said in a written statement. “Now that Saint Luke’s has acquired the majority of our thriving Kansas City health clinics, it makes good financial sense for us to relinquish the naming rights to this arena.”

The Foutch Brothers, a Kansas City development firm, bought Kemper Arena from Kansas City earlier this year and is turning the former home to the Kansas City Kings and Kansas City Scouts into a multipurpose sports facility for amateur and recreational athletics.

“While we’re very excited about our plans for Kemper, we’re disappointed that Mosaic won’t be our sponsorship partner,” Steve Foutch, chief executive of Foutch Brothers and once an athlete on the Iowa State University track team, said in a written statement. “We completely understand their rationale and we wish them continued success.”

Foutch said Wednesday’s news should not affect his firm’s progress.

“We have already been contacted by multiple groups that would like to take over the naming rights and this should not interfere with our progress to date,” Foutch said in an email to The Star.

This story was originally published December 20, 2017 at 12:44 PM with the headline "What’s in a name? Kemper Arena renaming deal falls through."