The BC Place naming rights file: Astonishing in both substance and style

You can debate fair market value on any kind of sponsorship all you want, because that's different things to different people. You can hold out as a purist and not embrace the era of corporate naming rights as deals that often make the difference between profitability or red ink for arenas and stadiums. Yet I simply can't fathom that anyone could suggest the BC Liberal Government's handling of the BC Place file over the past nine months remotely resembles good form or good governnance.

The BC Government's decision to cancel the $40 million naming rights deal that would have re-branded the newly-renovated BC Place as TELUS Park is astonishing to me at several levels.

I'm not sure what's worse: the decision itself or the process the Government took en route to rejecting the naming rights deal, especially after almost two years of negotiation with the largest private sector employer in British Columbia and more than nine months since the sponsorship agreement-in-principle went to Cabinet for final approval.

This is a train-wreck of a political decision that is shocking both in substance and style.

BC Minister of jobs, tourism and innovation Pat Bell showed little acumen in all three areas of his portfolio when he announced Wednesday that: "(BC Pavilion Corp) has terminated their discussions with TELUS. For us, the underlying principle 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."

That's substance issue #1; claiming that there exists a strong grassroots attachment to the 29-year-old name. The Sport Market has done informal polling that found little if any of that, even in the older demographics. Moreover, three different focus group projects -- including one commisioned by the Government itself and another by PavCo -- do not support the kind of emotional investment in the name that minister Bell suggests.

Substance issue #2 surround claims by both Minister Bell and BC Premier Christy Clark that the proposed TELUS Park naming deal did not represent sufficient value to taxpayers. The evidence suggests exactly the opposite, at least when it comes to the track record of naming rights deals in North America.

The TELUS Park proposal would have ranked it fourth among all Canadian stadium and arena naming rights deals. Moreover, it would rank second only to Rogers Arena across the street as the richest deals in the country pro-rated to market size. Moreover, among the corporate naming sponsorships of more than 100 major league sport venues in North America adjusted to market size, it ranks in the top 20; not too shabby for a stadium that does not house an NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL franchise.

Even pro-rated against the Rogers Arena deal, the rejected TELUS Park deal holds its weight well, given that one building is averaging more than 50 major sports events per year, all on television and all sold out to capacity, and BC Place is home to about 30 CFL and MLS dates each year.

It's important to note that stadium naming rights are built on three major metrics. First is market size and reach, the second is the quantitative value of stadium event dates and capacity and the third is the subjective, qualitative value of those dates and the tenants playing their games there. There are a number of softer factors, ranging from location (downtown versus suburban), surrounding infrastructure (highway traffic and/or access to public transportation) and even time zone (with a definite skew towards higher naming rights deals in the eastern side of the continent).

Most analysts across the country were impressed last year that PavCo was able to get what it did in both cash and in-kind, at least as proposed in the now-cancelled deal.

Even measured against the two richest naming rights deals in North America – Citi Field in Queen’s, New York, and the proposed Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. – the TELUS Park agreement was on par on a per capita basis.

As suspect as the so-called reasons for the cancellation of the TELUS Park deal is the style with which the Government has handled this, through last summer, into the fall and now in the first quarter of 2012.

Poor form and even poorer governance; how else would you describe it when the largest private employer in the province works with your own crown corporation for close to a year to help launch the new BC Place and gets you through the heavy lifting...only to be told "no deal" once well more than $15-20 million in technology infrastructure and equipment is installed?

“I think TELUS is deeply disappointed with this decision, which we find regrettable,” said TELUS CEO Darren Entwhistle in the company's statement Wednesday. “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. 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.”

By building its case against the TELUS Park proposal on the brand equity held by BC Place, on the value of the deal and by suggesting PavCo should have little difficulty replacing the $40 million in naming rights by selling sub-sponsorships, Cabinet and Government are only encouraging curious minds to figure out what really happened or is happening here. The front story almost begs the back story, especially given how obvious it is that not all of PavCo's tenant ducks were in a row on the naming rights deal.

Unless the Government can somehow find a face-saving way to revisit a naming deal with Vancouver-based TELUS or find a way to bring on another telecom such as Bell, this is a classic case study of politics and political relationships trumping commercial merit. Telecoms are ideal as top-of-the-food-chain partners of sports teams, leagues and venues, especially in this day and age of life made digital and mobile. PavCo was on the right track on that one, just as Canucks Sports & Entertainment was by replacing an automotive partner with a telecom partner across the street.

Yet the options available to PavCo and the Government now to come away with a good deal are much less than if Cabinet had handled this with more elegance and integrity.  

NOTE: Peter Brown is a heavyweight among BC businessmen, best-known for his role as Chairman and Founder of Canaccord Capital, one of the largest investment brokerages in Canada. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the old Vancouver Whitecaps of NASL vintage. He served the province on the Board of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. He's invested in the community through countless donations, including at the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. One thing he is no longer is a member of the Board of Directors of BC Pavilion Corp. His name was removed from the PavCo web site Friday afternoon. Multiple sources suggested his resignation was linked to his disappointment with the TELUS Park decision and/or process. Yet he himself denied that in an interview with Jeff Lee of The Vancouver Sun Friday night, as did PavCo Chair David Podmore.


TheSportMarket.biz
Facebook.com/thesportmarket, Twitter.com/thesportmarket, LinkedIn.com/companies/thesportmarket

Skulsky hiring a coup for the BC Lions and CFL

Owner David Braley finally pulled the trigger Thursday in announcing that highly-respected Canadian media executive Dennis Skulsky would be the next President & Chief Executive Officer of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League.

Here are five big reasons why the hiring of Skulsky, who will complete his duties as CEO of Canwest Publishing on April 30th and begin at the Lions on May 1st, is a winner for Braley and the BC Lions:

1. The human side of the story: Skulsky's relationship with his predecessor, the late and loved Bobby Ackles, provides a strong personal connection to the appointment. He was a close friend of the little man who could and became one of his greatest disciples in the Vancouver business community as an original founder of the Waterboys, the team's ambassador network named after Ackles' original job in football;

2. The passion of the deal: As a founding Waterboy, Skulsky has worn his passion for the Lions and the CFL on his sleeves -- personal and corporate -- since 2003. That passion alone makes him a natural successor to Ackles;

3. A commitment to community investment: Bob Ackles repatriated the BC Lions brand of CFL football from the ground up, making the team the most community-friendly of all of Vancouver's professional sport franchises. That shared philosophy brought Ackles and Skulsky together in the first place early last decade. If there is a media or broadcast executive in Canada who better understands the importance of community relations and investment than Dennis Skulsky, I have yet to meet him or her. The same principles that made The Vancouver Sun and The Province leaders among community events and organizations in the Lower Mainland when Skulsky was their Publisher will be applied to the Lions. That will help extend the legacy of Ackles;

4. A powerful network: Skulsky brings a heavy-duty Rolodex to his role as BC Lions chief executive. He is among the most connected businessmen in British Columbia and his years with Canwest in Toronto expanded that network to the national level. Those corporate contacts will come in handy for the Lions and for the CFL as Skulsky becomes one of the league's most important salesmen;

5. His familiarity with the job: As chair of the Waterboys and the 2005 Grey Cup festival in Vancouver, Skulsky was among those most familiar with the day-to-day activities of Ackles. He has in-depth knowlege of the Lions' business operations. He knows the CFL deal and has already met several times with Commissioner Mark Cohon. His ability to get off to a running start is arguably the most important aspect of the appointment, because it comes at a critical juncture in the history of the Lions, as they play close to two seasons at their temporary home at Empire Fields before hosting the 2011 Grey Cup a renovated BC Place stadium.

Dennis Skulsky will make an immediate impact in filling the void that has existed since the passing of Bob Ackles in July of 2008. That is good news for dual owner Braley as he preoccupies himself with his latest CFL challenge, turning around the Toronto Argonauts, and it's good news for Lions fans. Most of what Ackles preached to rebuild the Lions is very much in the corporate and community leadership DNA of Skulsky.

More than anything, this is a coup for the CFL. To have an accomplished executive of Skulsky's pedigree choose to take this gig on reflects well on the league as stadium renovations and replacements appear to be ushering in a golden era for the CFL brand of football.

www.TheSportMarket.biz
The Sport Market on TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca
Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 12 noon PT
Facebook.com/TheSportMarket and Twitter.com/TheSportMarket    

Vancouver 2010 Scorecard: Top Tens and Bottom Tens of Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

With the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Paralympics now in the books and in the conversation with Lillehammer 1994 as among the best in Winter Games history, it's time for our sport business scorecard for the most watched sports event -- and television event -- in Canadian history.

The Top 10s of Vancouver 2010

10. The Richmond Oval as the most impressive new sport venue in Canada since the opening of the Air Canada Centre in 1999 and VANOC's general approach to competition venues - smartly relying on upgrades to BC Place, Pacific Coliseum and General Motors Place/Canada Hockey Place; all completed on time, well in advance of the Games...an unusual feat for Olympic host cities;

9. Family marketing campaign centered around mascot team of Quatchi, Miga, Sumi and MukMuk, which engaged kids and schools in the Winter Games and kick-started strong merchandise sales and branding, smartly backed by the official colour pallette of wintry blues and greens symbolic of Canadian west coast;

8. Event ticket sales, surpassing previous record set in Salt Lake City 2002 (although it was still disappointing to see unfilled sections of IOC family seating at indoor venues, including for otherwise sold out hockey games at Canada Hockey Place);

7. In what amounted to the two single largest global branding opportunities in the history of Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada before worldwide audiences on television, computers and mobile phones, the staging of the opening and closing ceremonies of both the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games were solid (despite the mechanical failure of the indoor cauldron February 12th and a slight excess of cheese February 28th);

6. Domestic sponsorship sales which met and exceeded VANOC's $750 million in budget projections, despite impact of global economic recession, with kudos to Executive Vice-President Dave Cobb and his marketing team;

5. A host sport medical platform almost unanimously regarded by athletes and coaches as second to none in Winter Games history, engineered by the likes of VANOC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jack Taunton, Rick Celebrini, Dr. Mike Wilkinson and a team of British Columbian and Canadian leaders in their fields;

4. At 106 days, 45,000 kilometres and coast-to-coast-to-coast coverage, the longest domestic Olympic Torch Relay in history, with kudos to RBC and Coca-Cola for their classy activation around 12,000 torch bearers;

3. Own The Podium for provoking a change in the way we view our athletes and our capacity for success on the world stage, not to mention $110 million in training and technology support for Canadian Olympic team;

2. Vancouver 2010 merchandising and licensing campaign, especially by official retailer HBC and hot sales of Canadian Olympic team apparel, most notably the sea of red created by Hockey Canada's Nike jerseys;

1. John Furlong's strategic vision of Vancouver 2010 as "Canada's Games", a leadership position which rubbed off on Olympic Torch Relay presented by RBC and Coca-Cola, record television ratings, strong domestic sponsorships, provincial agreements, record ticket sales and record levels of Winter Games merchandising, not to mention expressions of patriotism and flag-waving like we've never seen before in Canada.

Bottom 10s of Vancouver 2010:

1. Tragic training run death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvilli on opening day of the Games;

2. Failure of federal, provincial and municipal governments to get their marketing, hospitality and tourism ducks in a row early enough (most notably a missed opportunity to present a fully-aligned and integrated message to visitors, trading partners and investors from around the world - although the weather and televised beauty shots of Vancouver and Whistler more than made up for it);

3. Inability to deliver a direct cash legacy for sport development like that of Calgary 1988, which would have been the ultimate follow-up punch to BC's 2010 Legacies Now and Canada's Own The Podium before the Games (shouldn't the IOC follow through with $22.5 million US or even $30 million US, the amount it fell short on its own worldwide partner budget for Vancouver 2010?);

4. Poorly-conceived fencing plan and poorer communications spin around outdoor cauldron at honourably-named Jack Poole Plaza;

5. Lack of stronger protocols and alignment between VANOC and sliding federations to ensure safer luge, skeleton and bobsleigh track at Whistler;

6. VANOC fueling greater pushback and negativity from international media in opening days of Vancouver 2010 by not more easily acknowledging mistakes and logistical wrinkles;

7. BC Place without the retractable roof that will only come 18 months after Vancouver 2010 and without new video screens and other bells and whistles which might have added even more pizzazz to the opening and closing ceremonies and nightly medal presentations (and further helped justify the province's hefty $563 million tab for the long-overdue stadium renovation);

8. Missed opportunity to "open" the opening ceremonies by creating a staged opportunity for tens of thousands more Canadians, British Columbians and Vancouverites -- unable to afford or otherwise access tickets priced at up to $1,100 a pop -- to witness Wayne Gretzky and a final procession of torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame from BC Place to the outdoor cauldron on opening night February 12th (instead of what came across as an afterthought, with only television audiences watching the Great One scrambling away in a pick up truck to the outdoor lighting at Cole Harbour);

9. Some questionable calls on overseas hires and foreign contracts when highly-touted and capable Canadian talent was ready and willing, in areas such as design, sport operations and, yes, Cirque de Soleil;

10. Community disconnects in the period leading to Vancouver 2010, ranging from misplaced aggression on trademark protection (especially in the early years) and VANOC not making the most of the opportunity to fully engage BC sports stakeholders to the exclusion of the global children's charity Right to Play and the BC government's wrong-headed decision to announce cut backs to the provincial sport system six months before Vancouver 2010 (despite boasting of its commitment to create the healthiest jurisdiction to ever host the Winter Games).

Net score: "Excellent and Friendly Games", with big wins at the international, domestic and local levels, where Vancouver's DNA will forever carry the designation of Olympic and Paralympic city and usher in a new era of sport business opportunities for the Pacific Gateway city.

www.TheSportMarket.biz
The Sport Market on TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca
Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 12 noon PT
Facebook.com/TheSportMarket and Twitter.com/TheSportMarket

Wayne Gretzky is the natural choice to light Canada's Games

Tonight's full dress rehearsal of the official opening ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games will demonstrate the great degree to which public and spectator participation will be part of the real deal Friday night at BC Place.

It will showcase a major aboriginal dance and music element. Video images telling the story of Canada and Canada's Games will be prominent. The rehearsal will showcase many of the acts and performers who will be featured Friday at 6 p.m. PT before a global television audience the likes and size of which has never had its collective eye on Vancouver, British Columbia or Canada at any time in our history.

The Olympic Cauldron, although it might not be fully "uncovered", will be ready to go in its central location in the middle of the 60,000-seat stadium.

Who lights the highly-symbolic cauldron for its 17-day burn in Vancouver will not, however, be revealed (or at least confirmed) until that very moment the well-known Canadian with Olympic credentials will actually pull the trigger in whatever technically-brilliant way it is done as the defining moment of the ceremonies Friday night.

That the actual lighting will be cleverly engineered is to be expected given the role of Bombardier of Canada as Vancouver 2010 official suppliers and designers of the Olympic Cauldron and the individual torches carried by the 12,000 Canadians and international guests who made up the 106-day Olympic Torch Relay presented by RBC and Coca-Cola (the longest domestic relay in both days spanned and kilometres traveled).

In fact, VANOC and the Canadian Olympic Committee will likely do everything they can to delay revealing the list of the special torchbearers slated to carry the Olympic flame from City Live Yaletown -- where it will rest in an official Olympic lantern for a few hours Friday afternoon -- into BC Place.

Canadians would be proud to have any one of a group of famous Olympians and other famous Canadians light the torch Friday night. Nancy Green Raine, Cindy Klassen, Catriona Lemay Doan and Gaetan Boucher are among the obvious high-profile, medal-winning Canadian Olympians, while Rick Hansen and Gordie Howe would not disappoint, nor would the memory of Terry Fox.

Yet there is only one obvious answer to the question of who is the best and natural choice to light the Olympic Cauldron Friday night. It's been stated elsewhere this week in print by columnist Gary Mason of the Globe and Mail and on air by Vancouver sports radio host David Pratt of TEAM 1040, among others, but the answer is Wayne Gretzky.

The selection of Gretzky makes sense at several levels, whether he does the final act solo or in concert with a high-profile female Olympian of medal-winning pedigree (keeping in mind that the Olympic Torch Relay began in Victoria October 30th under the auspices of male summer Olympian Simon Whitfield and female winter Olympian Lemay Doan, who were in turn followed by male summer Olympian Alexandre Despatie and female summer Olympian Silken Laumann).

From a sport business perspective, it is the right choice for a few reasons.

First, the official opening ceremonies are one of VANOC's two greatest opportunities -- with the closing ceremonies February 28th the other -- to tell the story of these Olympic Winter Games and sell the Vancouver 2010 brand to the country and the world. That story and brand is based on the vision of Vancouver 2010 as "Canada's Games". Born and bred in Brantford, Ont., a junior player in Toronto and Sault Ste-Marie and a treasure in Edmonton in four Stanley Cup wins for the Oilers of the 1980s, Gretzky fits that bill.

Second, the official opening ceremonies are the single greatest global branding opportunity that the host city, province and country will have ever had in our lifetimes. Neither Calgary 1988 or even the larger Montreal 1976 Summer Games -- which were both pre-digital and essentially single television platform events -- enjoyed anywhere near the international access that will be afforded Vancouver 2010 in this increasingly global Internet era.

The event will be produced across all three screens of television, computer and mobile platforms. The dynamic at play is Canada to the world, not Vancouver to Canada or even Vancouver to North America. Gretzky works in that respect as well as one of few Canadian athletes who transcends hockey to the point where he is recognized across our country, throughout the United States and in much of Europe. In other words, the red-blooded Canadian of eastern European ancestry has name recognition in virtually all of the winter sports countries serving as the core of the global audience for Vancouver 2010.

Third, the final torchbearer often sets the tone for the Games that follow. Placing the accent on hockey before the greatest hockeyfest the world has ever seen plays well for the tournament's single-biggest ticket seller and overwhelmingly-dominant television draw. That's true for the event, broadcast rightsholders such as CTV and NBC and for the corporate partners of Vancouver 2010.

Yet more than anything, the official opening ceremonies are the number one vehicle to convey the defining characteristics of a country such as Canada. The game of hockey is one of our signatures on the global stage. Vancouver 2010 could help create a winter sports culture in this country, but Gretzky epitomizes what Canada has: our hockey culture.

Gretzky does that on the strength of his childhood playing on an outdoor rink built by his father Walter. He does that as a multiple winner of the Stanley Cup, which is for Canadians the most prized trophy in sports. Yet he also does that as an Olympian, both as a player in a disappointing team performance in Nagano 1998 and as the team executive director in an inspiring, glorious and historic gold medal win in Salt Lake 2002.

Gretzky is the right choice because as hockey icon he will appeal to Canadians from coast-to-coast-to-coast. More important to the larger audience, he is the right choice because he will make sense to Americans, Europeans and many others as the Canadian picked to light the Olympic Cauldron at these Winter Games.

http://www.thesportmarket.biz/