City Hoping For More Money For South End Arena Naming Rights

"That's A Little Low" Says Councillor of $100,000/Year Offer

How does the Sadlon Arena sound to you? City of Barrie is saying not yet. A two million dollar, twenty-five year offer to name Barrie’s south end arena after the Sadlon family is being mulled over at City Hall, with one councillor asking for more time to mull. Councillor Doug Shipley on Monday asked the decision on a naming rights agreement be deferred while city staff look at options. He points out that cities like Barrie are receiving more than the offered $100,000 a year in similar agreements, and is hoping a review by city staff will yield annual payments at least double that amount.

Related: Barrie Molson Centre’s Days Are Numbered

“That’s a little low, compared to what else is going on” says Shipley, claiming Kingston was able to haggle a $275,000/year naming rights deal, while stating London gets over six hundred thousand a year. “Maybe it is the best offer, but at least let’s give staff the opportunity to see where we’re going.”

The City of Barrie negotiated the original naming rights way back in 1994, as part of a land swap between the City and Molson Canada. At the time, Barrie received nine acres of land (at a 1994 value of about a million dollars) in exchange for Molson getting the naming rights of the facility built upon the land. In September 2017, Molson declined to renew the naming rights deal when it expires this year, so the city began looking for an appropriate replacement. A total of eight companies were shortlisted by city staff, including Paul Sadlon Motors Inc.