BMO Field: MLSE, Bank of Montreal play name game with 10-year rights extension
The stadium is changing but the name remains the same.
On Sunday, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment invited the media to watch them put in place the roof that is the centerpiece of the ongoing $120-million renovation of BMO Field.
On Monday, they announced a 10-year extension of the bank’s naming rights deal on the city-owned stadium.
The original agreement, finalized before the stadium opened in 2007, was set to expire in 2017. But both sides re-upped rather than allowing the stadium’s naming rights to return to the open market next year, opting to preserve continuity and avoid the hassle.
“(Continuity) isn’t so important that you wouldn’t do something that’s economically the right deal, (but) there’s definitely value,” said MLSE chief commercial officer Dave Hopkinson.
While the city’s biggest sports and entertainment facilities — the Rogers Centre and Air Canada Centre — don’t figure to change names any time soon, the last few months have seen a flurry of naming rights activity at smaller local venues.
Last summer, the insurance company Aviva signed a 10-year agreement with Tennis Canada for naming rights to the tennis facility at York University’s campus. It had previously borne the name of the Rexall drug store chain.
In November, MLSE reached a deal with Canadian sports nutrition outfit BioSteel for title sponsorship of the new sport science centre where the Raptors practise.
Meanwhile, the company managing Brampton’s biggest arena is seeking a naming sponsor to replace Powerade, whose name remains on the building even though their deal officially expired at the end of 2015.
The new BMO Field deal sees MLSE, which manages the stadium on the city’s behalf and is bankrolling the renovation, keep naming rights revenue.
Monday’s agreement also includes another one-year extension of the jersey deal between Toronto FC and BMO.
Their original kit sponsorship agreement lapsed after the 2014 season and the team spent a few months exploring options before agreeing with BMO to a one-year deal last February.