Ivor Wynne Name Change?

The Spec has a story where the sons of Ivor Wynne are interviewed about a possible name change for the rebuilt stadium. It is a bit sad that the name would be lost, but the revenue from naming rights are probably essential for a new stadium to succeed.

What I'm interested in is how much naming rights for Ivor Wynne could be worth. One benefit of Confederation Park and to a lesser extent the CP Rail site was the highway visibility of the stadium, which would be a component of the value of the naming rights. This value would be pretty minimal for Ivor Wynne with cars going by Cannon.

However the value of naming rights isn't just cars driving by, it is also the constant mention of the stadium on the TSN broadcasts, television and radio sports reports and print media on a national basis. Hosting two Grey Cups within the next eight years would also drive up these mentions. How much is that worth versus the highway visibility amount? These media mentions would be worth a lot more to a Canada wide company like Tim Horton's or a financial institution than a local company or one primarily based in Ontario. With CFL games now on the NFL network there's even some media mentions in the US. The naming rights to BMO Field, home of Toronto FC were sold for $27 million over 10 years. Obviously there's a lot of visibility on the Gardner Expressway from cars, but Toronto FC games currently receive miniscule television ratings compared to CFL games and usually the games involve an American opponent. For Scotiabank Place, the arena of the Ottawa Senators, Scotiabank paid $21 million over 15 years. Is $10 million over 10 years possible for a rebuilt stadium? Hard to say.

One issue with regard to highway visilibilty and Ivor Wynne is that currently there's not much signage for the way to the stadium. A big highway sign at the Red Hill exit on the QEW for the stadium would be useful for people from out of town and for a potential sponsor. More signs are needed in the city as well.