CFL BOD Agrees To Sell Naming Rights To Grey Cup

The CFL BOD has “quietly approved selling the naming rights” to the Grey Cup, a “move league insiders say may generate as much as [C$10M] a year,” according to Rick Westhead of the TORONTO STAR. A league source said, “As soon as 2008 you could see players competing in the Rona Grey Cup or the Ford Grey Cup. It’s for sale and the league will be pushing ahead with this.” The source added of league owners making the decision, “If you had the chance to put an extra million dollars in your pocket and it meant changing the name of the championship, what would you do?” But CFL Senior Dir of Partnerships Gavin Roth said, “We would consider an entitlement partner for the Grey Cup only under the right circumstances.” The league source said that the CFL will “go to the market arguing for the [C$10M] figure,” but Tony Smith, GM of Marketing Communications with league sponsor Sony Canada, said that that amount is “likely too steep for many CFL corporate backers” (TORONTO STAR, 2/15).