B. C. cancels multimillion- dollar deal with Telus to rename BC Place
Province balks, despite public support for stadium’s new name
After nearly two years of negotiations, the provincial government has cancelled a proposed $ 40- million deal with Telus to rename BC Place Stadium.
The deal fell through after the provincial cabinet balked
at renaming the iconic stadium Telus Park, even though market research done by the B. C. Pavilion Corp. and Telus showed public support for renaming the facility if the money would go toward paying down the $ 563- million cost of renovations.
And it throws into disarray an expansive digital
telecommunications deal that Telus pushed ahead last year in the expectation the government would approve the renaming deal.
As a result, negotiators for both Telus and Pavco have to go back to the table to unwind portions of that agreement. Documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun outline a
detailed rebranding strategy for the stadium that would have promoted the tag line “Super, Natural British Columbia” in concert with Telus’s wellknown nature image — even going so far as to rename gates after trees and flowers. The deal was so advanced that Telus had spent millions of dollars on signs that were to be mounted
externally on the stadium.
But Pat Bell, the minister of jobs, tourism and innovation, told The Sun Wednesday the government killed the deal after it felt the iconic building should retain the name it was born with nearly 30 years ago.
Bell said cabinet was opposed to Telus’ demand that all public reference to BC Place should cease.
“Pavco has terminated their discussions with Telus,” Bell said. “For us the underlying principal came back to the name BC Place. There are many in cabinet and many across the province who believe that name has tremendous value to it and we wanted to retain that.”
“Telus was certainly of the view that they didn’t want any reference to BC Place, and I understand that,” he said. “They felt very strongly about it. Cabinet felt equally strongly in the other direction and in the end we thought it was important to retain the integrity of the name BC Place.”
But in later interviews, Premier Christy Clark and Finance Minister Kevin Falcon said the deal “wasn’t in the best interests of taxpayers.”
“Not every deal is the best deal for taxpayers. This one wasn’t,” Clark said. “The minster’s view
and Treasury Board’s view, quite clearly, is that we can get a very good source of revenue on selling the inside advertising at BC Place.”
Telus president and CEO Darren Entwistle was unhappy but said he accepts the decision.
“I think Telus is deeply disappointed with this decision, which we find regrettable. We believe that Telus, our brand, and our 25,000 team members across British Columbia, would have been a great partner for one of the premier sports facilities in all of North America,” he told The Vancouver Sun’s editorial board.
“We respect the decision that has been taken, and Telus will instead focus on operationalizing our unparalleled $ 3- billion investment in this province and the welfare of its citizens.”
Pavco has long sought to rename BC Place as part of the revenue options for paying down recent renovations, including replacing the iconic air- supported dome with a
retractable roof. Pavco Chairman David Podmore said the Crown corporation initially sought companies it thought would want a 25- year branding opportunity. Bell Canada, a sponsor of the Vancouver Whitecaps, turned the idea down. But Telus was interested and put together a bid, eventually negotiating a deal with Pavco for about $ 2 million a year for 20 years, he said.
Telus said those negotiations directly led it to offer and develop an innovative plan for a sweeping digital technology upgrade of the stadium.
That concept, based around the creation of 800 Wi- Fi access points, 100 new wireless sites and 1,150 high- definition digital screens, would turn the stadium into Canada’s first “all- digital stadium,” putting it on par with Yankee Stadium in New York and Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.
That technology debuted last September when the facility reopened to the public. Pavco
had signed a letter of intent with Telus in March 2011 and the upgrades were completed while the two sides waited for the provincial government to approve the overarching naming agreement.
Telus would not say how much it has spent on the upgrades, but Podmore told The Sun a portion of the work was bought by Pavco “at cost” with the rest provided by Telus as part of the planned operating agreement.
Podmore said he expects the province to “relieve” Pavco of the need to find $ 40 million in naming rights now that it has rejected the Telus deal.
But Bell, the minister, said killing the deal now lets Pavco sell advertising sponsorships on the inside of the building that he thinks will amount to more than $ 40 million over the same 20 year term.
“We will work through the individual advertising agreements to see what emerges,” he said.
Podmore would not discuss what the value of a new contract with Telus for its completed work may be. Telus said it would likely be weeks before a revised deal is finalized.
New Democratic Party leader Adrian Dix was highly critical of the way government has handled the negotiations. When a company spends millions on signage for a building, they expect they have a deal, he said.
“This is just ineptitude, business ineptitude on the part of the Liberal Party,” he said. “They [ the government] engaged in this process. Clearly they decided to do it. There was a belief, presumably, on the part of the largest private sector employer in the province that they had a deal,” he said.