With Tuesday’s approval of the dates for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska (June 21-28), it’s time to catch our readers up on the latest vocabulary surrounding the event.
When the meet was first announced for Omaha before the 2008 Trials, it was held in the Qwest Center. Then, for 2012, it was originally announced as the Qwest Center again, but beginning in 2011, the name changed to CenturyLink after the company bought our Quest for $22 billion.
CenturyLink held the branding for the 2012 and 2016 events, and was the announced hosting name for 2020 – but as of September 1st, 2018, the arena has a new name: CHI Health Center Omaha.
Under a 20-year agreement worth $23.6 million, the arena has a new name, though everything else remains unchanged.
CHI Health is a non-profit organization based in Omaha that has 15 acute care hospitals. CHI stands for Catholic Health Initiatives, the company’s parent organization.
The arena’s primary tenant is the nearby Creight University men’s basketball team, which ranked 5th in NCAA Division I basketball in home attendance last season (17000 per game). The swimming trials were a ‘sell-out’ event in 2016 for the first time in Omaha’s 3 opportunities to host, though the venue’s capacity is slightly reduced due to the configuration of the pool deck (which is built on top of the first few rows of seats).
