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Sleeman Breweries' new owner is sending a message that it's committed to the city by buying the naming rights for the home of the Guelph Storm, says John Sleeman.
Japan-based Sapporo Breweries "felt they needed to send out a message to the community that they support it," Sleeman said Tuesday as the official announcement was made that the Guelph Sports and Entertainment Centre is being renamed the Sleeman Centre.
Another sign of Sapporo's commitment to Guelph was spending several million dollars in December to buy property next to the Sleeman plant to allow for future expansion, he said.
"The future is indeed bright for Sleeman in Canada, but particularly here in Guelph," said the company's chairman and CEO.
The deal, approved Monday by city council, includes $1 million for the naming rights for the next 13 years, with an option for Sleeman to renew after that. The $1 million is to be paid in equal instalments over 13 years.
Other aspects of the deal, which runs from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2020, include:
* Sleeman will make additional payments totalling $120,000 for marketing initiatives to improve the facility and maximize the company's exposure in it. Sleeman will pay $30,000 this year and $7,500 a year after that
* Sleeman will pay for all of its internal and external signage
* The centre will sell only Sleeman draught beer, as well as local Sleeman brands sold in bottles or cans. The only exception to these "pouring rights" for Sleeman is when a competing brewery is a title sponsor for a major event at the facility
* The city will provide use of a suite in the arena for Sleeman Breweries
* The city will renew for a further 13 years, at no additional cost to Sleeman, an agreement that gives naming rights and pouring rights to Sleeman in the River Run Centre. This agreement, signed in 1997 and due to expire this year, saw the River Run's foyer named the Sleeman Atrium. (The River Run doesn't sell draught beer, but about 80 per cent of the beer it sells are Sleeman brands, said Rob Mackay, the city's director of recreation and culture.)
"This is a tremendous day for this facility, and a tremendous day for the city," said Mayor Karen Farbridge, noting Sleeman's more than 150-year history in Guelph. The original brewery closed in 1933, but the current CEO revived the family business in 1988 using 19th-century beer recipes handed down by his family.
Sleeman Brewery's buying of naming rights is a vote of confidence in the future of the downtown that helps create a sense of Guelph as a good place to invest, Farbridge said.
It will also allow improvements to be made to the city-owned arena without burdening taxpayers with the cost, she told Tuesday's gathering, held inside the multi-purpose arena which she called "the envy of many communities our size."
Rich Grau, the facility's manager, said the $1 million will be used for capital projects for "keeping the building modern, keeping it state-of-the-art."
Among possible enhancements are a proper floor covering and a stage, he said. The facility, which has a seating capacity of 5,100 for ice events and 6,500 for concerts, trade shows and seminars, now has to rent a stage whenever it needs one.
Sleeman, whose company employs 345 people in Ontario and 900 across Canada, described the naming deal as "probably the worst-kept secret in Guelph."
He said the on-again, off-again talks to reach the deal lasted at least three years and were complicated by Sleeman Breweries being sold.
"We have been here a long time, and our new owner wants us to remain here a long time," he told reporters.
"This facility has had its ups and downs, and we hope . . . it can be an even better facility," he said.
The facility was built around 2000 as a partnership between the city and Nustadia Developments, and the city took over full ownership and operation of it from Nustadia in July 2005. Farbridge said city council has always wanted a naming rights deal.
Sleeman said although his company was one of the first to sign up for a suite in the arena, he'd never seen the suite before Tuesday. "I love hockey, but my work schedule is so busy," he explained, noting that he plans to spend more time in the suite now that the facility bears his firm's name.