(TOM LANDERS/GLOBE STAFF/FILE 2005)
For Garden, another new label
Home of the Celtics, Bruins giving up its middle name
(TOM LANDERS/GLOBE STAFF/FILE 2005)
Once the Garden, always the Garden. For now.
The Boston sports arena will be officially rebranded TD Garden, shedding its Banknorth middle name in July.
It's the fourth moniker for the venue since 1995, and the move comes as banking giant TD Banknorth prepares to change its New England operations to TD Bank. The new name for the Garden, home turf for the Celtics basketball team and the Bruins hockey franchise, is supposed to stick through 2025.
TD Banknorth is allowed one name change under the terms of the $6 million a year rights pact signed in 2004 with building owner Delaware North Cos.
Christopher Cakebread, a Boston University professor who teaches sports marketing and advertising, said the name change will mean little to fans, who have been leaving out the Banknorth - and the TD, for that matter - for years.
The arena, adjacent to the site of the storied old Boston Garden, initially was going to be called Shawmut Center in 1995. But FleetBoston acquired Shawmut before the area opened, and renamed it the FleetCenter.
Even then, fans insisted on calling it the Garden, and some disgruntled fans gave the FleetCenter its own nickname, the "FleeceCenter" because of high ticket and food prices, according to Cakebread.
In 2004, FleetBoston was acquired by Bank of America and gave up the naming rights. TD Banknorth acquired those rights and officially rebranded it TD Banknorth Garden in July 2005.
"The smartest thing TD Banknorth did was to bring the 'Garden' back to the arena," Cakebread said. "The latest change doesn't matter to sports and entertainment fans. It's a pretty subtle change."
Still, for the Garden staff, it's a pretty sizeable undertaking. The rebranding will cost upwards of $1 million and involve changing the outdoor signs, installing new templates for the ice logo, refinishing the parquet basketball floor, and replacing small details such as business cards, according to John Wentzell, president of the TD Banknorth Garden.
"It's a fairly complex process," Wentzell said. "But we're very grateful that they're keeping the Garden in the brand. We're proud of that heritage."
Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com. 
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