Re-naming the Grey Cup?

Sorry I meant GC game…

Maybe Sportsnet might be interested, from their article:

"Who knows? Maybe next year they'll be awarding the Sportsnet.ca Grey Cup"

[url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/article.jsp?content=20070215_093331_4936]http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/ar ... 93331_4936[/url]
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/182029

The Grey Cup, as it has been known for 98 years, may be doomed.

The CFL's board of directors has quietly approved selling the naming rights to their tradition-steeped championship game, a move league insiders say may generate as much as $10 million a year.

And while some U.S. college football bowl games have tried to balance corporate interests and tradition by ensuring the name of the championship remains front and centre – consider the Rose Bowl presented by AT&T – the CFL will take a direct tack.

"As soon as 2008 you could see players competing in the Rona Grey Cup or the Ford Grey Cup," said one high-ranking league source. "It's for sale and the league will be pushing ahead with this."

Toronto will host the 2007 title game.

The decision to move forward with its sponsorship ambitions comes even as the CFL remains without a commissioner. The league has hired headhunting firm Korn/Ferry International to find a replacement for Tom Wright, but there's no sign that the search is close to ending.

That's not slowing down the league's franchise owners, who are enticed by the prospect of an additional $1 million a year per team. "If you had the chance to put an extra million dollars in your pocket and it meant changing the name of the championship, what would you do?" the league source said.

CFL executive Gavin Roth, who spearheads the league's sponsorship sales, said the league recognizes that the Grey Cup "is our most prized asset.

"We would consider an entitlement partner for the Grey Cup only under the right circumstances," he said.

It's not a certainty that the league's sponsorship pitch – agreed upon in recent months but not yet made public – will be eagerly received.

The league will go to the market arguing for the $10 million figure, in comparison to the $5 million cost of being the title sponsor for the Canadian Open golf championship, sources said.

But Tony Smith, an executive with league sponsor Sony Canada, said in an interview that $10 million was likely too steep for many CFL corporate backers.

And some sponsorship experts say the CFL may be risking more than it realizes by selling Grey Cup naming rights.

For starters, it's possible that even after a name change, some media outlets would refuse to acknowledge the new sponsor, said Bob Stellick, a Toronto-based sports marketer.

"That's what really hurt the (Royal Canadian Golf Association) when they sold the rights to the Canadian Open to Bell, some people just refused to go along with the name change," he said. "You really have to dump the championship (name) and come up with something else."

Another problem might be realized only years after selling the naming rights to the trophy donated by then-governor general Lord Albert Henry George Grey in 1909. "What if you do a deal with a company and then they walk away?" Stellick asked. "Then you're renaming the event again and it becomes really Mickey Mouse."

The words of caution should sound familiar for venerable CFL officials. Remember the Schenley Awards?

After their 1953 inception, the league's most valuable player awards were called the Schenleys until 1989, when sponsor Schenley Canada Inc. cut its ties to the league. The awards have had multiple sponsors since but are no longer as well known.

"The league has to ask itself, at what price do you sell your soul?" said Stellick. "The Grey Cup really is the soul of that league."

Rona's 2008 grey cup game sounds ok with me...as long as the company name is seperated from 'grey cup', im fine with it. like the 2008 grey cup game presented by rona....id hate: the rona grey cup

Is $1 million really enough to do anything?
Just how much of a difference will it make?

A bit off topic, but you know what I miss? The Schenley Awards.

Schenley originally sponsored the player awards and produced the awards show. The show was a must-see because it went about 2 hours and Schenley put on a great show. Now, it's just called the CFL awards and the show is short and sweet. A player used to "take home a Schenley". Now it's just another trophy. That's one bit of sponsorship I'd like to have back.

Is $1 million really enough to do anything?

indiefan, the CFL needed to borrow $4 mill from the NFL in the '90's go keep the league going. Does that answer your question - $10 mill total here?

I hope this goes through. An extra $1 million per team per year would keep this league healthy. That right there would pay for 25% of the salaries in the league.

It is simply shortsighted to even consider such a deal.
The secret to marketing a product is name recognition--branding.
Corporations spend billions of dollars attempting to maintain and extend brand recognition.
The reason a company like Rona would even consider such a move themselves is because they feel it increases their own name recognition, ie., it makes their brand stronger.
But the strongest brand, the most recognizable name in Canadian sports after the Stanley Cup, is the Grey Cup.
Changing the name, tinkering with it as is being suggested, instantly weakens the brand. The name becomes less known, the recognition, and marketability begins to deteriorate and slowly the name, the game, and the icon of Canadian culture will become just another watered down corporate shell.

If the league were just forming, one of the first things it would try to do is establish its championship game and its trophy as a legitimate and recognizable brand.
Now for a paltry few dollars, they risk destroying that advantage--an advantage that most corporations would spend far more than 10 million a year to achieve in the first place.
It is greed over foresight, short term gain for long term pain.

the more revenue the CFL can get, the healthier they get, and the more they become a coveted business for people to invest in.

if every team in the league is turning a profit, its easier for the government to hand over money for stadiums renovations without looking like thier giving to charity.

and more business people will want to advertise thier companies with a strong, viable league.

and more people might want to buy a team, since they have a cap to work with, plus TV deal and grey cup rights helping to cover it...seems like a less risky investment.

with the new tv deal giving teams $2Mil each, PLUS another $1Mil each for grey cup naming rights...thats $3Mil right there towards a $4 Mil cap....teams only have to raise $1Mil in ticket sales themselves. to cover thier player costs....so profitability isnt such the stretch that it once was!

And let's face it, take the Super Bowl as an example, while there is no name there isn't anything more corporate in the sports world than the SB. The NFL just has the luxury to not have to sell naming rights since the league brings in so much revenue through television rights, a luxury the CFL doesn't have.

There is another thing you are missing, and a lot of others are as well. How memorable were the firt 15 or so Super Bowl games? One event changed how Super Bowls were watched, and it did not happen during the game. Coke made a commercial that aired during one of those games, featuring Mean Joe Greene, and the SB commercial was born. Now, the commercials are just as anticipated as the game itself is, and sometimes they upstage the event itself. If the CFL had been smart, they would have looked at this method as a revenue generator, but they still dont really sell airtime to companies, it can be big revenue generator.

 If you go to the off-topic section of this forum, you will see a thread about the greatest Super Bowl commercials. It is this kind of publicity and exposure the CFL could definitely use. It generates so much revenue for the NFL, they dont need to resort to having its big game "The Budweiser 2008 Super Bowl". It wont happen, and wont see that happening anytime soon. 

We see enough advertising in this league for airtime sold during the Grey Cup to be successful. Companies like Rona, Scotiabank, Molson and a few others could buy airtime during Grey Cup to advertise during the game. The GC game gets good enough ratings to justify trying to make revenue off the event itself. Im not sure about any others but when I go to Taylor Field, I go to watch the team play the game, and hopefully end up with a win, rather than to see if Rona or Molson Canadian signs are painted on the turf.

Good points sambo. Myself, I never, ever want to watch a game because of commercials because it is then I know I'm only watching something not because I enjoy the sport or game. But you're right, a certain percentage does look at this. But what is the budget for Super Bowl commercials? Quite large I would think. Do you think that the budget for creating GC commercials would be large enough to make the commercials so great that people would have to watch them? I doubt it.
Again, we have been dupped by television that commericals are so important that they are the true entertainment, unreal. I'm glad I'm not dupped, I'm no angel nor Rhode scholar, but I'm not that easily manipulated.

Don't you think if the CFL had other methods of getting some $10 mill, they would do it? It's not easy getting that type of money for a game that basically has a rather limited audience - Canada for the most part. I'm sure they don't want to do this in their heart of hearts, I would hope not but it is, afterall, $10 mill for something that many people consider not a major league. Not bad, I'd take the money and run with it and build upon it if I was them to be honest.

Could not have been that quiet if its on every radio and news station! :lol:

I am not big on the idea but the league is not secure enough to turn down 10 million. I also agree with DG…some ways are better than others to use a coperate name.

HAVING JUST READ THE NEWS ABOUT THE LEAGUE THINKING ABOUT SELLING THE 'GREY CUP' NAME TO A CORPORATE ENTITY, I AM HOPING THAT THIS CANADIAN ICONIC NMAME WILL NOT CHANGE. WE ARE SELLING OUT EVERYTHING THAT IS CANADIAN AS IT IS, AND TO SELL OUT THE NAME OF OUR CFL CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY IS HORIFIC. I NOTICE IN THE ARTICLE THAT THE AMERICANS HAVE NOT SOLD OUT THE SUPER BOWL NAME. IF THE AMERICANS ARE NOT DOING THIS, WHY SHOULD WE ENTER THE FRAY BY EVEN CONSIDERING THIS.

I URGE ALL CFL TEAM SEASONS TICKET HOLDERS TO REGISTER THEIR STRONGEST OBJECTIONS TO THE VERY THOUGHT OF DOING THIS, AND MORESO TO THE FACT OF THE THOUGHT.

SIGNED:
AN UNHAPPY DIEHARD BC LIONS FAN.

y do u feel the need to make a new thread to put in your 2 cents, rather than putting it in the existing thread??

I'd rather see "2008 Grey Cup sponsored by xxx" than "2008 xxx Grey Cup"

But the money will help alot, and hell, if we can get people outside of current viewers to watch the Grey Cup because of the commercials, don't y'all think it might turn them into permanent fans?

Excellent points all around. While it is true that by attaching a sponorship name to our championship game does infringe on it's history we need to remember that part of the reason is because it is new and we are used to it standing alone for so long. If my great great grandchildren are football fans I'm sure it will be a none issue for them because they have grown up with it.

Sometimes change, as hard as it is to accept, is a good thing. In this case perhaps the common goal of league stability and future expansion needs to be the higher priority.

One other point. Even though the name is different it won't make the trophy any easier to win or less significant or the games any less exciting. Just some thoughts,

Cheers

Lots of good points on 'both sides' .... however, it would be real bad .... if this coin just filtered into 'owners pockets'

[url=http://www.team1040.ca]www.team1040.ca[/url] poll

Should the CFL sell the naming rights to the Grey Cup?

Yes
30%

No
70%

The Super Bowl halftime show read a little something like this:
The Pepsi Super Bowl HalfTime show produced by the NFL Network

That's two name sponsors in one name!!!

bad idea. baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.