BMO Harris Bank to sponsor exclusive club at the new Milwaukee Bucks arena

BMO Harris Bank will sponsor a club at the lower level of the new Milwaukee Bucks arena, the Bucks and bank officials announced Friday.

The all-inclusive area will be the "most exclusive club space in the arena and will have a direct connection to the player tunnel," the Bucks said in a news release. The club will have room for about 1,000 people and be open to fans with lower bowl seats before and during games, Bucks president Peter Feigin said.

In recent years, BMO Harris has held the naming rights for the Bradley Center, the Bucks home arena for the past 29 years.

Friday's announcement cements a continued long-term relationship between the bank and the team, but does not include the naming rights for the team's new $524 million arena under construction just north of the Bradley Center.

"We are not going to have our name on top of the building, but we will have it all over the inside," BMO Harris Bank President and CEO David Casper said at an event at the Bucks' offices in Schlitz Park.

BMO bought the Bradley Center naming rights in 2012 following the bank's acquisition of Marshall & Ilsley Corp.

Casper said the naming rights were an "unusual opportunity" that came up at the right time for Canada-based BMO in part because it supported the Bucks and Bradley Center at a crucial time. The NBA was pressuring the Bucks to build a new arena and the team was facing an ownership change.

"I think it really helped them a lot," Casper said. "It also helped us and gave us instant name recognition."

Feigin has said the team hopes to secure a naming rights deal of $10 million a year for 10 years. There has been no indication about when the naming rights will be announced, other than vague comments from Feigin that it would be soon.

The announcement Friday includes naming BMO Harris a "Founding Partner" for the Bucks as they make plans to move into the new arena in the fall of 2018. The arena is being constructed with $250 million in public money.

The "Founding Partners" are a group of six to eight local businesses that have signed long-term deals with the team. Johnson Controls and Froedtert Hospital are the other Founding Partners announced so far.

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The Bucks also said BMO remains the team's "official bank." BMO will issue a Bucks-branded debit card that will provide access to a special entrance and discounts on concessions and other things at Bucks games.

“The Bucks have generated tremendous energy and excitement throughout Milwaukee, energy that will only increase when the new arena opens next year,” Casper said.

"We are thrilled to be part of that excitement by making a long-term commitment as a Founding Partner of the new arena, building on our 25-year relationship with the Bucks.”

“BMO Harris Bank has been a long-time valued partner of the Bucks and our expanding relationship demonstrates to our customers, fans and employees our deep-rooted commitment both organizations have to Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin,” Feigin said in the release.

BMO is also the first major partner announced for the Bucks's G-League affiliate in Oshkosh, the Wisconsin Herd.