Advertising and sponsorship was a big topic discussed at Monday’s town council meeting in Battleford.
Council has approved an advertising and sponsorship policy which allows for seeking out advertising and sponsorship opportunities at town facilities and parks, including Battleford Arena and elsewhere.
Parks and Recreation Director Jordan Schectel presented the policy at the meeting, which he said is based largely on one put in place in Moose Jaw. The policy had previously come up at the town’s parks and recreation committee and had already gotten their approval.
Among the ideas put forward at the meeting was awarding naming rights for the Battleford Arena; also put forward was an idea to put up a billboard in front of the rink that could be used to put up advertising.
The naming rights discussion was particularly animated. The proposal in the draft policy was for a 10-year term for arena naming rights at $15,000 per year.
But Councillor David George made the point that a 10-year term for naming rights was too long, and could potentially miss out on revenues during the final few years of the term.
It was pointed out other communities were going with shorter terms for their naming rights for their arenas. “A lot of larger centres were selling naming rights for 25 or 50 years or for life, and then they could never renegotiate value,” said Mayor Ames Leslie. Leslie noted there had been a “big change in western Canada” regarding how long things could be named for.
In the end Leslie supported the policy. He noted they were collecting zero dollars on naming rights from facilities and saw it as a “great start” to create new revenue to offset expenses. The recommendation carried at council.
