The city-owned arena in the Cultural District has a new name. Dickies Arena became Ariat Arena on Monday under a 10-year naming rights agreement between Ariat International and Trail Drive Management Corp., the nonprofit that leases and manages the building, the Fort Worth Report reported.
The deal took effect immediately. It also makes Ariat the arena's exclusive partner for Western wear, workwear and boots. Ariat signage will start going up right away, and all permanent signs are expected to be in place by the end of the year, in time for the 130th Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, which opens Jan. 15.
Neither side's announcement, as reported, included financial terms.
Ariat and Trail Drive also plan a charitable giving program for Fort Worth-area organizations.
Why the name changed
Williamson-Dickie, the workwear company founded in Fort Worth in 1922, had been the arena's only naming partner since the building opened in 2019. Bluestar Alliance bought the Dickies brand from VF Corp. for $600 million last year, and the new owner said earlier this year that it did not want to keep the naming rights, according to the Report.
Trail Drive later sued VF, Bluestar and related companies in state district court in Fort Worth, alleging a plan to "dump obligations" owed to Trail Drive. The terms of the original Dickies agreement were never made public.
