The name remains the same

After announcing a three-year, $3 billion investment in B.C. (enabled by its 10-year, $1 billion provincial government supply deal), Telus CEO Darren Entwistle told me that the company invested between $10 million and $15 million of goods and services to make B.C. Place Stadium the world's first "all-digital" stadium.

Yet, it remains B.C. Place. The naming rights deal that was supposed to happen last fall didn't. Maybe it will never happen, judging from what Entwistle (who is pictured on the right with NDP leader Adrian Dix) told reporters on March 2.

"That question as it relates to sponsorship is best posed to (B.C. Pavilion Corporation). That's their responsibility and ultimately their decision. In terms of Telus's perspective, we're tremendously excited about the part we played to bring that stadium to fruition from a technology perspective. The technology that's been infused into that stadium will create an unparalleled fan and technology experience.

"For us right now we're just focussed on the technology component of that solution. Again, any sponsorship conversation is best had with the PavCo organization. At the end of the day, as a public organization, we're deploying technology. Certainly there will be a commercial return associated with that and we'll work that out in a technology supplier agreement with PavCo which we're in the progress of doing right now."

Backbench MLA Colin Hansen was the only Liberal politician at the news conference. No executives from B.C. Pavilion Corporation, which operates B.C. Place, were seen. On March 2, Telus also placed full-page ads in Vancouver newspapers promoting its work in B.C. Place. There was even a strategically placed dogwood blossom in the upper right corner. (Dogwood is the provincial flower.)

The Vancouver Whitecaps, who are sponsored by Telus competitor Bell, are the stadium's main sports tenant and start their first full-season in B.C. Place on March 10, playing on what the Major League Soccer franchise calls "Bell Pitch."

B.C. Place workers were recently issued uniforms that include the new B.C. Place logo. They had received blank shirts and jackets before the Sept. 30, 2011 reopening, in anticipation of the name change sometime before the 99th Grey Cup. PavCo even paid more than $50,000 to remove the old B.C. Place external sign and commission a new one bearing the Telus name.

My Feb. 23 interview request to PavCo chairman David Podmore and CEO Warren Buckley was referred to Pat Bell, the Minister Responsible, who told me:

"It may or may not take on a corporate name. It is B.C. Place. The fact it has B.C. Place on the uniforms is something we were contemplating regardless. The name of the facility is B.C. Place. It may have a corporate sponsor, it may not, but it is B.C. Place… It is B.C. Place for us, that's what we've called it for a long, long time. British Columbians know it as B.C. Place."

So there you have it. Telus, which was supposed to be the naming rights sponsor, is still negotiating a contract so it can be called an official supplier. The six-month-old B.C. Place logo has finally shown up on the uniforms of staff.

The sale of naming rights was supposed to help lessen the burden on the taxpayer for the $563 million renovation.

Yet another broken promise? Or a casualty of the telecom marketing wars?

Name game

A new name is on the way for B.C. Place Stadium.

Taxpayers are on the hook for much of the $563 million budget to renovate the 1983-opened stadium. Some of the costs are supposed to be defrayed by the sale of naming rights.

B.C. Pavilion Corporation chairman David Podmore told me in mid-January that the corporate naming deal could be decided in late March or early April. Timing for the announcement would hinge upon both government approval and the marketing strategy of the sponsor itself. Though he refused to offer any hints, he said the companies involved in negotiations were not government enterprises. Podmore also said Paragon Gaming and its Edgewater Casino were not in the running for the name. B.C. Place general manager Howard Crosley said Budweiser was not a candidate, despite becoming the official stadium beer.

So the speculation continues.

Four highly active sectors appear to be the most logical from which to draw a naming rights sponsor: financial services, telecommunications, energy and retail.

Scotiabank already sponsors arenas in Ottawa and Calgary, is the naming sponsor of Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver and is the official bank of the Richmond Olympic Oval. If its name went up on the B.C. Place marquee, would shareholders question whether it's in the banking or stadium business? BMO already has its name on Toronto FC's stadium. Which might make RBC the most logical suitor. RBC has had a low profile since it sponsored the 2010 Winter Olympics and its torch relay.

Telus hung up on Canucks Sports and Entertainment after General Motors decided to drive out of its deal for "the Garage" early. Rogers slipped in last July, weeks after Bell slapped its name on the jerseys for the Vancouver Whitecaps. Bell is also the name on the Empire Field pitch. Expect the Whitecaps to play on Bell Pitch beginning in October. Vice-president Loring Phinney told me the company is not bidding for the building's name.

Telus CEO Darren Entwhistle said at the March 9 unveiling of the $750 million Telus Gardens office complex proposal that the stadium naming rights are of interest to his company.

On March 1 Terasen Gas became FortisBC. Natural gas is plentiful in B.C. where Fortis is the biggest distributor. The Newfoundland-based company has utility operations in five provinces, plus hotel and commercial properties. The Fortis board of directors includes Podmore. Podmore was instrumental in convincing Fortis to underwrite the Olympic cauldrons at B.C. Place Stadium and Jack Poole Plaza. Could Podmore also convince his fellow directors to turn the stadium into FortisBC Place?

In January, U.S. discount retailer Target bought leases for Zellers' 220 stores for $1.8 billion from Hudson's Bay Company. The Minnesota company plans to convert as many as 150 to Target by 2014. Naming rights to the stadium would be beneficial, if it were to begin the makeover early,