TORONTO (CelebrityAccess) Toronto’s Air Canada Center, home to the NHL’s Maple Leafs, changed its name to the Scotiabank Arena July 1 after the bank paid a Canadian record $800 million for the 20-year naming rights. Scotiabank and facility operator Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment announced an expanded sponsorship partnership last year.
There will be four new logos on each corner of the building, according to the Toronto Sun, including one with full-motion video “weaved inside each of the Scotiabank letters.” The roof will be replaced and there will be a “re-imagination” of the entire facility including better ingress, better viewing and improved outdoor optics.
“The number is the number,” Scotiabank’s John Doig told the Sun. “But it includes a whole lot of things way beyond signs around the building. There is a community component, an eight-figure dollar amount that will go to the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Foundation (whose Launchpad initiative for youth sports programs started 18 months ago). We and MLSE are endeavoring to do great things in the community the next 20 years.
“The actual fan who comes down and experiences the building will see differences right away, such as digital media in the score clock, LED (screens) in the corners of the building. And those out in Maple Leaf Square looking at the video screen, we’re trying to improve that experience, too.”
Some of the gates at the venue, which opened in 1999, will have streamlined entrance, executives said.
