Re: SOCCER STADIUM OFFICIALLY NAMED...
Not like we shouldn't have expected this....
From the Star:
Article
Profit made on tax-funded stadium
Laugh all the way to the bank after naming rights deal
`Now we're happy campers,' says COO Anselmi
Sep. 21, 2006. 07:10 AM
MORGAN CAMPBELL
SPORTS REPORTER
While crews work to fill out the aluminum skeleton of the new soccer stadium at the CNE, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment acknowledges it has already made money from the taxpayer-subsidized venture.
Yesterday MLSE announced that the Bank of Montreal (BMO) has bought naming rights to the stadium for the next 10 years.
Now known as BMO (pronounced "bee-mo") Field, the 20,000-seat stadium will host Toronto FC of Major League Soccer, as well as several 2007 under-20 World Cup games next spring.
Last year the federal government pledged $27 million to the project, while the provincial government added $8 million and the City of Toronto provided $9.8 million and the land the stadium stands on.
MLSE, which owns Toronto FC, promised to pay the remaining $18 million for the project, with up to $10 million of that cash coming from the sale of naming rights.
Last month the Star reported that the 10-year naming rights deal between BMO and MLSE would be worth $27 million.
After a press conference yesterday to announce the deal, MLSE executive vice-president and chief operating officer John Anselmi wouldn't place a dollar value on the deal.
"It's a private matter between two private parties," he said.
But he did explain that MLSE's upfront investment of $10 million is worth much more than if it were spread over the life of the decade-long deal.
And while he at first declined to say whether MLSE had sold the rights for more than $10 million, he later confirmed that MLSE had made a profit.
"The title deal itself, we were the ones who took the risk on it," he said. "We made a reasonable margin on it.
"We covered our investment and now we're happy campers.
BMO's investment also includes a sponsorship of Toronto FC, funding of a community soccer program run by the Ontario Soccer Association, and an executive suite.
Several "BMO Field" banners were on display yesterday as crews continued work on the stadium, which is scheduled to open in time for Toronto FC's inaugural game next spring. About a quarter of the stadium's seats are in place, and as officials and journalists toured the stadium, workers bolted more of the red plastic chairs on to the aluminum bleachers.
At the north end of the stadium, crews are preparing to remove a mural from the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
The mural will later become part of BMO Field's main entrance, while the Hall of Fame will be razed to make room for a concrete walkway.
MLS commissioner Don Garber said Toronto FC's home opener next year will mark the first time in league history that a team has played its first-ever game in a stadium built specifically for them.
Toronto FC will join five other MLS teams, including Dallas, Columbus and Chicago, as squads with soccer-specific stadiums.
By 2010, Garber says, 10 MLS teams will play in their own stadiums, instead of renting pro football fields.
Anselmi says the team has received more than 3,000 deposits for season tickets even though those tickets haven't officially gone on sale yet.
