Financial terms of a naming rights agreement between the City of Medicine Hat and South Country Co-op will not be publicly released according to both parties. The newly dubbed Co-op Place (pictured) should be fitted with new signs in April, city officials tell the News.--News Photo Collin Gallant
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Both sides of the new naming rights agreement for the city’s major arena say the deal is confidential at the other party’s request.
Last fall, Medicine Hat city council approved a 10-year deal to rename the city-owned event centre “Co-op Place” after the previous agreement with the Canalta hotel chain expired.
The term is reportedly 10 years, but the city refused to outline the financial aspects of the agreement, citing freedom of information policies regarding proprietary financial dealings.
Last week, president of South Country Co-op, Paul Haynes, told attendees at the retailer’s annual general meeting that as a condition of the deal, the city required a confidentiality agreement.
“The amount is strictly confidential – we had to sign a confidentiality agreement with the City of Medicine Hat,” he said in response to a question in the AGM’s Q&A period from a News staffer who is a member-owner in the co-operative retailing enterprise.
City officials told the News this week they consider the deal to meet the outline of the privacy legislation, but previous statements from senior officials suggest the business, not just the city want the number kept private.
“It’s propriety (information), and it’s not just me,” said Mayor Ted Clugston at the time the agreement was approved in October, 2020. “Co-op has competitors and they don’t want their competitors knowing what they’re doing.”
The changeover has already occurred in the language surrounding the rink that is hosting Western hockey League games without crowds this spring.
The previous sign came off the building in the Box Springs Business Park this month, and new sign is expected to go up in April, according to city officials.
Both parties have promoted the deal as a win-win.
At Co-op’s March 22 virtual AGM, several board members remarked during welcoming statements that the naming rights would provide valuable advertising and promote South Country’s community focus.
Clugston said South Country is well-known and expanding in southern Alberta.
“It’s a difficult time, buildings aren’t even open right now, and yet they’re willing to step up and make a long-term substantial (agreement),” he said in October.
“As a partner they may want to promote events.”
In recent years the city has increased a move to offer naming rights of city recreation and cultural facilities, and according to a city policy approved in 2017, any deals that are controversial or valued above $100,000 per year require council approval.
That gives some estimate of the financial terms of the deal, which will likely go toward the operational budget of the 6,000-seat arena and concert venue.
In the previous, undisclosed agreement with Canalta, fees were collected by former contracted manager ASM, formerly known as SMG, as part of the management contract.
The city took over active management of the facility last summer.
Most naming rights agreements for major junior hockey venues are a closely guarded secret.
This January, the City of Guelph announced it had inked a 10-year extension to its agreement with Sleeman Breweries worth $1 over the term, or about $100,000 per year, for naming rights to the home of the local Canadian Hockey League franchise.
In 2014, Scotia Bank acquired the rights to the Halifax Metro Centre – home of the Quebec Major Junior league Mooseheads – in the Nova Scotia capital city for a 10-year deal valued at $6.5 million.
