AUSTRALIAN DENTAL SERVICES provider, 1300Smiles, has signed as the new naming rights partner for the home ground of the National Rugby League (NRL) club, the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys.
The five-year deal, with a further five-year option, sees the stadium renamed as 1300Smiles Stadium.
Understood to be worth more than $200,000 a year, the deal could transfer to a new local stadium pursued by local community leaders in Townsville, home to both the company and the NRL club.
The deal follows reports that North Queensland was one of six NRL clubs to be named by an Australian Crime Commission report on performance-enhancing drugs in the sport.
Earlier this week, fellow NRL club Cronulla Sharks lost a multi-million-dollar stadium naming rights sponsor in the wake of the scandal.
According to Australia’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, a major company had agreed to replace Toyota as the Sharks' home-ground sponsor before it was revealed the club was one of the six NRL teams under investigation.
The clubs under scrutiny are Manly, Cronulla, Newcastle, Penrith, North Queensland and Canberra.
By Matthew Glendinning
Follow Matthew on Twitter: @mattglen