…But
sports marketing experts say that despite some naming disasters,
the move makes great sense for Rogers -- not only because
it competes in an industry where marketing to consumers is
paramount, but also because the price is right. Since Rogers
owns the stadium, which is located along the city's major
downtown highway, it won't pay the usually hefty naming rights.
"From Rogers's standpoint it's completely a natural,"
said Bob Stellick of Toronto's Stellick Marketing Communications
Inc. "The question will be how large a Rogers sign can
they stick on the Gardiner Expressway with 400,000 cars a
day going by?"
One of the challenges for Rogers will be getting fans (the
company also owns the stadium's major tenant, baseball's Toronto
Blue Jays) and media to use the new name. After all, many
fans still think the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens
play (when they're not locked out) in the Molson Centre. That
building was renamed the Bell Centre in 2002.
"When you're renaming something, it's
often very difficult to get the media to call it by the revised
name," Mr. Stellick said. "What will people on [all-sports
TV network] TSN call it? Obviously they're a competitor."
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