Lewiston

June 20, 2023 Updated Tue., June 20, 2023 at 6:37 p.m.

A Lewiston-based credit union has proposed to pay the University of Idaho $5 million to rename the iconic Kibbie Dome, where the Vandals play their home football games in Moscow.

The sponsorship agreement involving P1FCU – an acronym for the originally named Potlatch No.1 Federal Credit Union – would see the facility renamed from the ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center to the P1FCU Kibbie Dome.

The proposal goes before the Idaho Board of Education on Wednesday for consideration.

The sponsorship deal for the 16,000-seat venue “creates a great opportunity to further invest in young adults and empower them through a high-impact, high-value financial literacy education with support from our staff,” P1FCU President and CEO Chris Loseth said in a news release.

University of Idaho President Scott Green said the 10-year naming rights deal includes a variety of financial literacy sponsorships for students.

“P1FCU is an ideal partner for the University of Idaho because we share a deep commitment to educating and empowering the people we serve,” Green said. “It’s exciting to work with them to expand their commitment to the Vandal Family. Together, we will further strengthen and elevate the university community.”

P1FCU was founded in 1938 when a dozen Potlatch Forest Inc. employees pooled their money to form a lending institution. They conducted their first transactions out of the trunk of a car, according to the company website. It has grown to include more than 100,000 members and 30 locations across Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

“Recognizing that financial stability plays a vital role in students’ overall well-being, P1FCU is dedicated to empowering students through knowledge, resources and support to achieve financial success,” Loseth said.

The proposed naming-rights deal for the Kibbie Dome follows a $10 million donation in 2018 from Idaho Central Credit Union that was used to build the 4,000-seat Idaho Central Credit Union Arena, which cost $51 million and opened in 2021.

That venue hosts Vandal basketball games. It was built with 854 mass-timber beams of Douglas fir that were logged from the university’s forest on Moscow Mountain.

The proposed naming rights deal with P1FCU follows an announcement by Green earlier this year that the university would purchase the University of Phoenix for $550 million.

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