MLSE has "agreed to a landmark 20-year sponsorship agreement with Scotiabank to rename the Air Canada Centre," according to Rick Westhead of TSN.ca. Sources said that the agreement is worth about C$800M (US$639M). The agreement with Scotiabank will "see the downtown Toronto arena renamed the Scotiabank Arena next July 1," and is believed to be the "highest-priced annual building and team sponsorship in North American sports history." MLSE Chief Commercial Officer Dave Hopkinson said that he "received serious offers for the arena naming rights from eight companies." MKTG Canada President & CEO Brian Cooper "advised Scotiabank on the deal." Under MLSE’s previous agreement with Air Canada, struck in '99, the airline "paid about" C$4M per year. Westhead noted the MLSE deal is the "third major arena naming rights pact for the Canadian bank, which also sponsors the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary and the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax." Scotiabank also "owned naming rights" to the Senators' home rink from '06-'13, now called the Canadian Tire Centre. Meanwhile, Air Canada "plans to keep its ties to MLSE." A source said that the carrier has "agreed to become a major sponsor of both the Raptors and Maple Leafs for the next eight years." It is also "unclear what the agreement means for BMO’s future relationship" with MLSE. BMO has been the Raptors’ presenting sponsor since '13 and "has a year left on its deal" (TSN.ca, 8/29). SPORTSNET.ca's Chris Johnston noted Scotiabank "held a provision in a pre-existing deal with the Leafs to get a shot at the naming rights if Air Canada elected not to renew them." The building will "continue to be known as Air Canada Centre throughout the coming NHL and NBA seasons" (SPORTSNET.ca, 8/29).
DEAL MAKERS: In Toronto, Morgan Campbell noted the deal is the "latest in a string" of MLSE partnerships dating back to '13, when then-CEO Tim Leiweke "arrived and encouraged sponsorship staff to [be] aggressive in courting new agreements." Since then, MLSE has "struck deals with Canadian Tire, Ford and SportChek." Another deal "saw the Raptors put a BMO logo on the floor near the team’s bench, among the first handful of NBA teams to open up that space for sponsorship" (TORONTO STAR, 8/30). The GLOBE & MAIL's Robertson, Bradshaw & Gray in a front-page piece report the play is Scotiabank's "latest move to market itself as 'Canada's hockey bank.'" Scotiabank "sponsors community hockey clubs across the country, all seven Canadian NHL teams, and is the official bank of the NHL." Scotiabank CMO John Doig said, "This is good value at this point in time, and I anticipate it to increase in value like a good property should." Hopkinson said that MLSE will "benefit from Scotiabank's efforts to use digital and mobile technologies to communicate with the bank's customers -- using its insights to connect to fans both at the rink and watching at home" (GLOBE & MAIL, 8/30).
COST OF DOING BUSINESS: In Toronto, Edward Keenan in a front-page piece writes of the Scotiabank-MLSE deal, "You could hear a resounding yawn emanate from Torontonians." Still, the name Air Canada Centre "holds no poetry, stirs no emotions, conjures no affection." From the time it "opened and the building got its name, it was a pure cash transaction." Scotiabank Arena is "boring, but it’s probably fine as corporate sponsorships go." It feels like Leafs and Raptors fans "dodged a bullet." Because over the "past decade or so, many of the corporate names attached to sports venues sound plain silly" (TORONTO STAR, 8/30).
