The Palladium and Corel Corp. announced the signing of a 20-
year, C$25M marketing deal under which the Ottawa facility will
be renamed the Corel Centre. For Corel, the Ottawa-based
software company, this is the second large sports marketing move
in the past year, as they signed on as title sponsor of the WTA
Tour In October. Corel receives naming rights, identification on
the interior and exterior of the building, logos on all sales
materials, stationery, tickets, advertising and signage, as well
as an executive suite, employee tickets, and special access to
the building for its employees (Corel). Corel will also pay
another C$5M in advertising, bringing the total package to C$31M.
Corel will pay C$300,000 immediately to change the Palladium's
signs, plus another C$5M to "promote the new name of the
building." The C$26M will be paid out in annual payments,
starting at C$950,000 and increasing by 3% each year. Ron
Bryden, CEO of the Palladium: "It would have been nice to keep
the name Palladium. But it's not worth $25 million" (Jill Vardy,
FINANCIAL POST, 2/28). Corel CEO Michael Cowpland: "We need to
have our name as recognizable as Microsoft's. ... This is a very
economical way to get the mentions" (Allen Panzeri, OTTAWA
CITIZEN, 2/28).
