Local Training Center Gets New Name

Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to a multiyear contract for naming rights of the training facility in El Segundo used by the Lakers, Kings and Sparks.

The Toyota Sports Center also is used by the public and is a training facility for ice skaters. HealthSouth Corp. had previously sponsored the facility that is owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the Kings and Staples Center. That contract expired March 30.

“Once the agreement concluded, at that time we began to look for another partner,” said Michael Roth, a spokesman for AEG.

The deal with Toyota includes interior and exterior signage, in-ice signage on the facility’s two rinks and corporate identification in the building. Toyota also is a longtime sponsor of the Lakers and Kings.

AEG officials were believed to be uncomfortable with the legal troubles that have revolved around HealthSouth founder and former chief executive Richard Scrushy.

Scrushy was acquitted of all charges in a $2.7-billion accounting fraud case in June. The charges against him included conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

Scrushy is still named in dozens of civil lawsuits over the HealthSouth fraud, including one filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission accusing him of leading the accounting scheme.

Fifteen former HealthSouth executives have pleaded guilty in the fraud.