Prior to landing the deal with Yum, Host said, the authority and Team Services had serious discussions with four out-of-town companies about naming rights, but none proved to be the right fit. He declined to identify the companies. Meanwhile, Narcise and Team Services continued to provide updates on naming rights and sponsorship efforts to Blum, and arena authority members maintained a casual courtship of Yum’s top officials.

Host said he became a regular at events tied to Yum’s World Hunger Relief effort and occasionally would broach the subject of the arena with Novak, who always mentioned his desire to get involved.

The authority chairman said he has known Novak since the mid-1980s when Host—then running sports-marketing firm Host Communications Inc.—worked with the restaurant magnate on a mini-basketball promotion tied to the NCAA’s Final Four. “I have great respect” for Novak, Host said, citing specifically the Yum chairman’s humanitarian efforts.

Also reaching out to Novak was retired banker Dan Ulmer, an arena authority member and partner in the Louisville Bats baseball team. Ulmer has a house in Florida near Novak’s vacation home, Host explained, and the two often run into each other on the golf course. The arena was a frequent topic of conversation, according to Host.

Despite the frequent contact, Yum officials didn’t feel badgered, according to Blum. “It wasn’t a matter of persistence,” he said. “It wasn’t like they were chasing after us. We were a very willing and interested participant…at the right price.”

Price continued to be a sticking point in informal talks between Yum, Team Services, and the arena authority, but a breakthrough occurred around the first of this year when Blum agreed to meet with Narcise in Washington.

Blum said he asked about the status of the search and again expressed interest in the project—if the parties could agree on a new price.

The $13.5 million, 10-year deal was hammered out over about a two-month period this spring, according to Host and Blum. A memorandum of understanding finally was signed April 16. “We think where we ended up was a win-win,” Blum said. Host said negotiations were never contentious and always were respectful.

He called the final contract a win for everyone and said he is “tickled to death” with how the process worked out—even though the deal is for less money and a shorter term than initially projected. That’s not a big problem, Host said, because the sales of other advertising and sponsorships have been stronger than expected.

Team Services and Louisville Arena Sports and Entertainment Properties, the local entity overseeing such sales, have generated about $24 million in sponsorships outside of the naming-rights deal. That includes $10 million from Norton Healthcare Inc., which will open an immediate-care center at the arena.

The announcement of Yum choosing to buy arena-naming rights was a surprise to most in the community, and those close to the deal marveled at how they were able to keep it quiet as talks intensified in the past few weeks.

Blum said only “a very small circle” of Yum executives knew anything of the agreement, and Host noted that just a handful of authority board members had been kept in the loop. Abramson said his wife, Madeline, didn’t even know about Yum’s plans until the day of the authority meeting.

“I didn’t say anything to my family,” the mayor said. “I told them as I left the house at 8 o’clock that morning.”

Yum and the authority “wanted to keep it quiet,” he added. “We can keep a secret.”