Naming rights to Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium, home to Major League Soccer club the Vancouver Whitecaps, will go on the market this year.
According to the British Columbia provincial government website, the stadium operators have been granted permission to issue a request for proposals for the rights.
The provincial government-owned BC Pavilion Corp (PavCo) operates the stadium and will use the money to help offset operating costs.
In 2012, PavCo negotiated a naming rights agreement with the technology company Telus worth C$40m ($30.5m/€26.7m) over 20 years to rename the stadium Telus Park.
The provincial government killed the deal, arguing that it did not represent value for money and that the public wouldn’t want to lose the building’s iconic name
More than one million people attend events at BC Place annually, including games of the stadium’s two resident teams, the Whitecaps and the BC Lions Canadian Football League club.
BC Place also hosts the annual Canada Sevens, which is part of the World Rugby Sevens Series, and is home to the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.