Facility Notes

PepsiCo has signed a three-year extension to remain the official soft drink of the Honda Center and the Ducks. The deal includes integrated marketing efforts by both parties, including promotional opportunities for Ducks fans and new entertainment elements created by PepsiCo. PepsiCo products also will be seen in the arena and on broadcast ads during Ducks games (Honda Center).

General Motors Place To Be Called Canada Hockey Place During 2010 Olympics

TEMPORARY NAME CHANGE: The main hockey venue for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, known as General Motors Place since it opened in '95, will be called Canada Hockey Place during the Games. Though GM is a sponsor of the Vancouver Games, IOC rules "forbid advertising and sponsorship at venues during the Games." A similar situation occurred during the '02 Olympics in Salt Lake City where the Delta Center became the Salt Lake Ice Center (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 7/7). Meanwhile, the GLOBE & MAIL's Rod Mickleburgh reports construction on the Univ. of British Columbia's new C$47.5M hockey arena, which also will host hockey games during the Vancouver Olympics, has been completed "slightly under budget and four months ahead of schedule." VANOC also announced  "a landmark program to showcase aboriginal art at each of the Games' 15 venues" (GLOBE & MAIL, 7/8).

TIME FOR A MAKEOVER: In Charlotte, Ken Tysiac reports Duke Univ.'s new "strategic plans for athletics, released in May, has called for renovations" at Duke's Wallace Wade football stadium. Duke AD Kevin White said that "those renovations need to be so extensive he doesn't even know where to start in talking about them." White: "We need to do an awful lot at Wallace Wade. This facility is antiquated at best, and we just have got to come in here and do a pretty significant makeover. Not a facelift, but a makeover." White, who "wants to get a national sporting architectural firm to build a master facilities plan for Duke," mentioned expanding the capacity of Wallace Wade "to 40,000" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/8).

NASCAR HOF Seeking Approval For Giant Outdoor Video Board

HOUSE WORK: The Bobcats have filed a request with the Charlotte Zoning Board for approval to change the exterior signs around Time Warner Cable Arena in time for the '08-09 season. Bobcats President & COO Fred Whitfield said that a "redesigned basketball court is also set to be unveiled this month." The NASCAR HOF also has filed with the Charlotte Zoning Board "for the long-planned giant video board outside the building" (CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/4). Meanwhile, in Charlotte, Doug Smith reported a "sliver of land beside Time Warner Cable arena that didn't work for a large condo-hotel development is getting a 16-story hotel without the condos." Kansas-based LodgeWorks "plans to start construction this summer of a 163-suite Hotel Sierra." Cardinal Real Estate Partners broker John Culbertson, who "brokered the land for the city and worked with the hotel developer on approvals," said that the "process wasn't easy, involving negotiations with the Bobcats and the NBA in addition to resolving utilities, transportation and other issues" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/7).