MLSE has agreed to a five-year deal with Purolator to make the courier company the official practice jersey sponsor of the Maple Leafs. Terms of the deal were unavailable. The deal extends Purolator’s role as the official courier and freight partner with the Raptors, Toronto FC and AHL Marlies, which began in '06. The Purolator logo will appear on the upper left side of the front of the Maple Leafs’ practice jersey. It is the first jersey deal for the Maple Leafs. MLSE Exec VP & COO Tom Anselmi said team officials had discussed putting the practice jersey up for sponsorship for about a year, but they wanted to offer the jersey space to an existing partner. “We have never had any discussions about putting any logos on the main jersey -- that is blasphemy -- but the practice jersey is not the uniform,” Anselmi said. “Purolator delivers our tickets, so it seemed like the right opportunity”(Fred Dreier, SportsBusiness Journal). In Toronto, Cathal Kelly cites MLSE sources as saying that the jersey agreement is "one element of a larger sponsorship deal that has the Canadian shipping giant paying the club an amount in the low seven figures." The Maple Leafs become the "sixth NHL franchise to take advantage of the league’s new search for additional revenue streams." Kelly writes, "As long as there’s a serious buck to be made, business logos will migrate from practice jerseys to game uniforms. It’s going to happen because too many clubs in the NHL need the money to survive. The maple leaf will never disappear from the Toronto jersey. But who’d bet it will always be front and centre if shrinking it or pushing it off to the side earns the club half a year’s worth of ticket revenue?" (TORONTO STAR, 9/16).
