Council reviewed a proposd sponsorship naming rights policy during its April 4 session. The policy would provide the municipality with extra revenue for its recreation and sports program by leasing the right for a business, a non-profit group, or even a government agency to put its name on the sports dome or some other recreational or sports facility in The Nation.
“We have been approached by some significant sponsors,” said Michael Paquet, a consultant with Hamilton-based People First Resource Development.
Other municipalities have naming rights policies for their sports facilities and public buildings. The Nation staff researched how other communities handle requests for corporate naming rights to their facilities and prepared a draft policy for council to consider.
This would create new revenue. Any type of organization that may be interested in promotional opportunities can apply.”
The draft policy outlines the terms and guidelines for sponsorship naming of recreational and public facilities that would include a building as large as the sports dome to something as small as a splash pad in a neighbourhood park or a community bench on a sidewalk. A sponsor would have exclusive naming rights for the facility or item for a limited time and can renegotiate for an extension of its sponsorship right when the “name lease” is close to expiring.
The length of time for naming sponsorship would vary depending on whether the sponsorship item was something big like the sports dome or something smaller like a baseball diamond. The naming right price would also vary, depending on the type of facility.
The policy also includes guidelines for how a sponsor’s name would appear on a recreation facility or public building, limits to the sponsor’s naming rights, and also the conditions that would apply to either the sponsor or the municipality to cancel the sponsorship name agreement.
Council agreed to table the draft naming policy for further discussion during a later session.
