Willing and Gable

A recent naming rights swap at a professional hockey arena paid major dividends for Gable, a Baltimore-based sign company.

Last fall, the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins inked a 20-year naming rights agreement with PPG, a Pittsburgh-based coatings company, which replaced the team’s former pact with Consol Energy Inc. (Canonsurg, PA). In short order, the Penguins needed four Consol Energy signs removed from the arena’s exterior, and PPG required a company to produce and install its PPG Paints Arena signage.

Gable – now in its 37th year of business – scored both contracts. To start, Gable removed the Consol Energy signage just prior to the announcement of PPG’s deal with the Penguins, and later designed, fabricated and installed all four channel letter signs. The largest sign (550 sq. ft.) was installed above the main entrance on the arena’s west facade and contains RGB LEDs that allow arena officials to modify the colors of “Paints” for holidays and special occasions. The other three signs mark the north (72.5 sq. ft.), east (238.8 sq. ft.) and south (469.9 sq. ft.) façades of the arena.