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NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Pelicans and Louisiana-based Smoothie King have reached a 10-year agreement to rename the New Orleans Arena as the Smoothie King Center. Pelicans President Dennis Lauscha said such a deal had been a "gigantic" piece of owner Tom Bensons business plan since he bought the long-struggling small-market franchise from the NBA in the spring of 2012. "Finding a naming rights partner was key to the long-term financial viability of this franchise in this market," Lauscha said. Benson, who has owned the Saints since 1985, purchased citys NBA franchise — formerly called the Hornets — for $338 million and has consolidated the headquarters and many of the business operations of both clubs. The hope was that with the two franchises sharing resources and cross-promoting one another, the region could better support two major professional sports teams. Officials with both the club and Smoothie King declined to release financial terms of the deal, which also gives Smoothie King an option for a 10-year extension. Smoothie King owner Wan Kim said sponsoring an NBA arena in New Orleans helps his company demonstrate its commitment to the community where it is based while promoting its brand globally. Smoothie King, founded in suburban New Orleans in 1973, has 674 locations in 31 states and in Asia, and is looking to expand both nationally and overseas, Smoothie King President Tom OKeefe said. Of 30 NBA cities, 21 currently have Smoothie King franchises, he said. The arena is officially being renamed on Thursday, in time for next weeks NBA All-Star festivities in New Orleans. Kim, a native of South Korea who attended college and business school in the United States, bought the company in July 2012. He said he initially considered moving its headquarters to Atlanta or Dallas. "I started to realize a lot of people who live in New Orleans, for them, its very difficult to leave the city," Kim said. "Its a very different city. Its very unique, culturally, and I did start to see why people didnt want to move. "At the same time, I did feel our root is here and I shouldnt give up on that," Kim said. "Not only did we decide not to move out, but we are pretty much telling you (with the naming rights deal) that our group is here and we are sticking with it." As part of the agreement, Smoothie King will be airing commercials during Pelicans broadcasts, as well as sponsoring pregame and postgame segments. The companys smoothies will also be available at concession stands around the arena. Team officials said there were "two or three" other candidates for a naming rights deal, but that Smoothie Kings interests seemed most aligned with the Bensons goals of promoting the business climate in his home state. "Theres no more perfect story to say how businesses can root themselves in New Orleans and grow," said Rita Benson LeBlanc, Bensons granddaughter and a part owner of the Pelicans and Saints. She added that the agreement is "a testament to how New Orleans has recovered (from Hurricane Katrina) and how Louisiana is redefining itself as an economic development engine." The deal might have been completed before this season began, but because Smoothie King products contain nutritional supplements, NBA rules required that all of the companys products be tested to ensure there were no banned substances. LeBlanc said that process took about eight months. "We couldnt have any question as to what are the contents of the products that Smoothie King actually offers," LeBlanc said. Custom Bengals Jerseys .com) - No Sidney Crosby, no problem. Cheap Cincinnati Bengals Gear .Y. - Lou Williams scored 21 points and the Toronto Raptors beat New York 81-76 on Monday night in the Knicks preseason home opener. http://www.cheapbengals.com/ . -- Golden State Warriors reserve centre Ognjen Kuzmic is expected to miss at least six weeks after undergoing surgery on his fractured right hand. Wholesale Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys . -- Green Bay wide receiver Greg Jennings will be on the sideline as the Packers make their push for a perfect regular season. Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys Outlet . - Jerome Verrier scored the winner 8:24 into overtime and Louis-Phillip Guindon stopped 46 shots as the Drummondville Voltigeurs edged the host Val-dOr Foreurs 4-3 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action. MINNEAPOLIS -- The Kansas City Royals scored seven runs in the second inning. Then they really started hitting the ball. Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez and Josh Willingham homered, and the Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 12-6 on Sunday for their 20th win in their last 25 games. Kansas City sent 11 batters to the plate in the big second, keyed by two-run singles for Alcides Escobar and Nori Aoki. The Royals then started hitting the ball out of the park after a 54-minute rain delay in the fourth. Gordon sent one drive into a flower bed in right-centre. Perez lined one into the left-field seats, and Willinghams homer travelled an estimated 433 feet into the third deck in left field. "Those tack on runs are huge," Royals manager Ned Yost said. The Royals also increased their AL Central lead to 1 1/2 games over Detroit, which lost 8-1 to Seattle. This is the latest the Royals have been in first place since 2003. Kansas Citys Jeremy Guthrie (9-10) returned to the mound after the delay in the fourth and lasted seven innings, yielding home runs by Joe Mauer and Kennys Vargas. Oswaldo Arcia also went deep for Minnesota, hitting a two-run drive off Jason Frasor in the eighth for his 11th homer. But Kansas Citys post-rain delay power surge helped it remain in control despite the Twins showing some power of their own. "You gotta fight for 27 outs," Perez said. "We continued to play hard. We needed to keep hitting it until the game was over." In his second start with Minnesota since coming over in a trade from Oakland, Tommy Milone (6-4) allowed seven runs in a career-low 1 1-3 innings. "Awful. The first inning was good, the second one was pretty awful," Milone said. "Couldnt get a good feel, try not to walk guys, left the ball over the plate. It was pretty toughh.dddddddddddd" The first pitch was delayed 34 minutes in anticipation of a rain shower that never happened. The rain did arrive as the second inning started and got worse until umpires called the players off the field with one out in the bottom of the fourth. After managing just one run in Saturday nights 4-1 loss, the Royals scored 10 or more for just the third time since June 17. "With the weather and everything, we were pretty good," Perez said. "We fought through it." GUTHRIE COMES BACK OUT Guthrie helped save a tired Royals bullpen by staying in the game after the rain delay. "Just to be able to manoeuvr through that made it a good day for us," Yost said. NO EXCUSES Twins manager Ron Gardenhire wasnt going to blame the weather for Milones bad second inning. "They played through the same thing," Gardenhire said. "They got it done, we didnt." NO-RAIN RAIN DELAY It wasnt the first time this season the Twins have had a game delayed by rain that never arrived. The first pitch for Minnesotas 5-4 loss to Houston at Target Field on June 6 was pushed back 81 minutes even though not a drop fell from the sky. TRAINERS ROOM ROYALS: Setup man Wade Davis and closer Greg Holland were available on Sunday, a day after manager Ned Yost gave each reliever a day off. UP NEXT ROYALS: Coming off his sixth career shutout vs. Oakland, Jason Vargas (9-5) starts the finale of the four-game series on Monday. Vargas has a 0.86 ERA in three starts against Minnesota this year and hasnt allowed a run in the last two. TWINS: Trevor May (0-1) will try and bounce back after walking seven batters over two innings during his first major league start on Aug. 9. "Hes been like a raging bull out there," Gardenhire said. "We gotta calm him down right now." 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