Number of proposals received for Essar Centre naming rights = big fat zero

There was no stampede to Tim Gowans' office in the City of Sault Ste. Marie's purchasing department as the clock approached 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23.

In fact, corporate sponsors avoided Gowans like the dentist.

Not one proposal was received for naming rights to the Sault's premier sports and entertainment centre.

But curiously, the phone started ringing shortly after the deadline passed.

Tom Vair, the city's deputy chief administrative officer for community development and enterprise services, says three prospective sponsors have expressed serious interest since then, all well-known entities in the business world.

"Some just got wind of it too late," Vair tells SooToday. "They're all names I recognize."

So a revised request for proposals has been issued and Vair is confident we'll get a better response before the new deadline of May 4.

"I’m optimistic we will get something in," Vair tells SooToday.

In all, a half-dozen firms contacted the city with questions about the initial request for proposals.

They included both local and national companies representing what Vair describes as a broad swath of industry sectors.

One company wanted to know how serious the city was about keeping "Memorial Gardens" in the venue name.

That was expressed as a preference in the initial request for proposals.

The new bid document stipulates that the retaining Memorial Gardens moniker is non-negotiable. 

"It is required that the proposed name contains the words 'Memorial Gardens'....honouring the contribution of the veterans and those killed in action from the city as members of the Canadian Forces," it says.

The city's current $1.5 million sponsorship agreement with Essar Steel Algoma Inc. ends July 31.

In the unlikely event that no one responds to the second request for proposals, Vair says a consultant could be hired to find a naming sponsor.

However, that would probably involve an upfront payment between $30,000 and $50,000 for analysis and preparing a bid package, plus a 20 per cent commission.

The new request for proposals contains five pages of added information responding to questions the city received regarding the original request.

The questions (and answers) include the following:

• can you provide a review of the attendance to the centre from those who are not local to the area? (over the past three seasons, there have been a total of 13,619 attendees to the Essar Centre that are not residents of Sault Ste. Marie. This is 2.7 per cent of total sales)
• has the average for Greyhound ticket sales remained at 130,000 in the 2016/17 season? Is it on trend for the 2017/18 season? (133,338 in 2016/17. It is anticipated that 2017/18 sales will be higher due to a hopefully long run in the playoffs)
• where do you currently advertise events and games? (SooToday, Rogers Media, Sovereign Communications, social media)
• can we get a forecast for 2018 events? (64 total days, including 40 Greyhound game days, eight sporting event days, nine tournaments and seven convention/ special event days, compared to 12 convention/ special event days in 2017 and 19 in 2016)

The successful naming rights sponsor will receive perks including use of a luxury suite with eight suite season tickets for Soo Greyhound home games, two rent-free event days per year, two VIP parking passes in the luxury suite parking area, two public-address announcements per Hounds home game, two rink board advertisements in diagonally opposite corner positions and the event centre name or logo featured at centre ice.

An illuminated sign near the front entrance of the building must be be designed and created by the naming sponsor.

The corporate sponsorship contract wil be awarded on June 11.

The building will be officially renamed on Aug. 1.