City arena gets new name
By Lethbridge Herald on August 7, 2024.
Herald photo by Al Beeber
Shilpa Stocker of the Lethbridge Lodging Association and mayor Blaine Hyggen applaud after a poster board with the new name of the city's biggest arena and event venue is revealed on Tuesday.Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
Since it was built for the 1975 Canada Winter Games, it has seen the Sutter brothers skate there along with so many others who would become fixtures in the National Hockey League, it has heard the sounds of musicians from The Bee Gees and John Mellencamp to KISS to Slayer, to Elton John, Bryan Adams and Taylor Swift reverberate off walls and ceilings and audience members have witnessed amazing feats on sheets of curling ice.
The venue has hosted motocross racing, monster trucks, Cirque du Soleil, bull riding and so much more.
And now the city’s biggest arena, a cultural and sporting icon unto itself, has a new name – VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The Lethbridge Lodging Association on Tuesday was unveiled as the new naming rights sponsor of the arena after signing a five-year deal for $150,000 per annum with an option for another five years which could bring the total value of the investment by the local organization to $1.5 million.
The sponsorship is the largest of its kind in Lethbridge’s history. And the money is coming from a locally-run organization.
Lethbridge Lodging Association represents hotels in Lethbridge that among them have more than 70 per cent of the city’s available rooms.
It sponsors events, activities and projects that increase occupancy for its membership.
In an interview with the Herald Tuesday afternoon, Shilpa Stocker of the LLA said “we’ve got two organizations that are working together to market Lethbridge as a destination. It’s a benefit to all businesses, it’s a benefit to residents, it’s a benefit to service, hospitality, tourism.
“When you look at a local group of hotels who are putting their funds in to help with the operating of a facility which reduces the tax burden on businesses and residents, to me it’s a no brainer,” said Stocker.
“Marketing dollars can go anywhere but when you start collaborating and leveraging with what already exists, you go further,” said Stocker.
“Lots of facilities have URLs as names,” she said, noting criticism of the name that has flooded social media since the announcement.
“It’s smart marketing,” she added, reiterating private funds are going into the agreement.
“We could have had a choice to market anywhere and spend our funds marketing anyhow. This is a win win because we are helping the operations of a facility. There is no shortage of places we could market but we are choosing to support local and we’re choosing to do it in a way that reduces the tax burden on residents and businesses,” Stocker added.
Stocker told a large group at the arena for the announcement that the association’s members have always believed the arena is crucial to promoting Lethbridge as a destination. And not only for visitors. She says the organization’s efforts can also serve to attract new businesses and residents to the city.
Stocker called the sponsorship a huge milestone.
The LLA, Stocker said, is the longest standing destination marketing organization in Lethbridge, starting in 2007.
The LLA has a long history of investing in, and for the community, she said.
It promotes and develops events and activities that create positive awareness about Lethbridge, she added.
She said the arena can play a role in attracting people to extend their visits to the city.
While the organization will continue to advocate for city council and administration to ensure accountability of the spending of tax dollars, Stocker said, its members want to be part of any solution to issues.
Members believe sponsorship of the arena will help reduce the need for property tax funding by residents and businesses, she added.
By investing in the arena, the LLA is striving to ensure the city’s marketing as a destination benefits the community, she said, calling the sponsorship “a win win win.”
“The opportunity to showcase our name and brand on Lethbridge’s marquee venue will help us continue to engage our partners and our community and use our resources to create positive awareness of Lethbridge as a destination,” said Stocker in a media release provided after the event.
“This is fantastic for us as an association as well as our hotel properties,” Stocker told media following the official ceremony in the Canadian Western Bank Lounge at the arena.
“It totally aligns with our mandate of marketing Lethbridge as a destination and this is the best partnership that we could have in terms of being able to work with Lethbridge and give visitors a reason to stay for more than just for the day,” Stocker added.
The lodging association began a strategic partnership for marketing with the facility in 2017 which has “exponentially” increased. She said it’s a way to align marketing together and extends both organizations reach to help get more information about events and activities happening in the facility out to the public.
The name of the organization being on the arena will drive people to the LLA’s website, added Stocker. A big part of the LLA’s work, she said, is to let people know how good Lethbridge is as a tourism destination.
The goal is that people will stretch the time they spend in the city if they have a lot to do here, she added.
“Anytime we can market this facility, this city as a destination we give people a sense of who we are and what we’re about, and what we’re capable of,” added Stocker.
Everyone benefits, Stocker said, when there are more activities and visitors to the city.
“It is a significant investment,” she added.
The announcement by acting arena general manager Jennifer Norsworthy drew a huge round of applause when she revealed the name.
Mayor Blaine Hyggen said “we want to thank everyone at the Lethbridge Lodging Association” for the sponsorship and that council is proud and grateful the organization has stepped up to sponsor the facility, which helps support the operation’s facility, reducing the need for property tax funding from residents.
He said he has fond memories of attending events at the facility over the years, listing off a range of concerts and other events he has attended.
Hyggen told media council was presented with a sponsorship opportunity, noting its part was “pretty easy to say ‘yes.’
Council’s vote to approve the sponsorship deal, however, was not unanimous. It was approved at the July 23 meeting by a 5-4 vote with Belinda Crowson, Rajko Dodic, deputy mayor Jeff Carlson and Jenn Schmidt-Rempel opposed. The minutes that had been posted after the meeting erroneously stated Carlson voted in favour.
38-37
Well, that name sure rolls off the tongue nicely…..Not! smh
Again raises the question, why can’t the exhibition cat a corporate sponsor? It needs all the help it can get.
what a great name! almost as good as our old tourist lethbridge slogan: come to lethbridge for a good time (must have copied that from a bathroom stall, as in “for a good time call….”
as for visiting lethbridge, we are still a net negative when it comes to long weekends, as more of us leave town than come in to visit.
and, we all know our biggest tourist attraction is not the bridge, not chinooks (each of which form the core of naming of things), it is costco liquor.
And here I thought it was for the Costco hotdogs?☹️ It is as bad as when Medicine Hat named its old arena a few years ago “The Arena”
haha!…but it is a laugh that comes with some pain