Jeff Bezos announced on Thursday that Amazon would be buying the naming rights to the arena that will house Seattle's future NHL team. While the team itself has yet to be named, he revealed that the arena would be called Climate Pledge Arena.
The idea behind the name, according to his Instagram post about this topic, comes from what he describes as "the urgent need for climate action." According to his caption, the arena will supposedly have many environmentally friendly aspects which include being "the first net zero carbon certified arena in the world," generating "zero waste from operations and events," and using recycled rain water for the ice which will "create the greenest ice in the NHL."
The connection between Amazon and this NHL team doesn't come as much of a surprise given that the business's headquarters are located in Seattle.
Tod Leiweke, the CEO of the NHL Seattle franchise, announced earlier this month that the team name would not be revealed until Fall 2020, citing issues with trademarks and a desire to avoid looking "tone deaf" in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests against police brutality.
Bezos has been outspoken about the importance of addressing climate change in the past, though Amazon has been accused of threatening to fire employees who criticize Amazon for its climate record.
