A stadium by any other name is a common thing. Especially when it comes to corporate sponsorships, which switch often as a part of the economics of sport, such as the recent change in Seattle from CenturyLink to Lumen Field.
So Westhills Stadium officially becomes Starlight Stadium this week.
鈥淚 hope it鈥檚 a sign of the times,鈥� said Langford Mayor Stew Young, referring to the newly-installed Starlight signage.
鈥淚鈥檓 always happy when companies support sports with their cheque books.鈥�
Toronto-based Starlight Investments will pay more than $500,000 for the naming rights over five years. Young says it is the largest corporate sponsorship in Langford history. It is expected Langford will get about 15 per cent of the naming-rights proceeds with the Canadian Premier League pro soccer club Pacific FC, which initiated the deal, to get the lion鈥檚 share.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge deal for us and shows what we鈥檝e done in just a few years,鈥� said Rob Friend, CEO and co-owner of PFC.
PFC is a charter member of the CPL, which will be entering its third season this year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see, with all the development going on in Langford, that the developers want to also support sports,鈥� said Young.
鈥淭his will really help PFC during the pandemic.鈥�
Starlight Investments is described on its website as a company 鈥渇ocused on North American multi-family and Canadian commercial real estate.鈥�
Starlight Stadium is home to PFC, the Tokyo Olympics-bound Canadian men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 rugby sevens teams and the Westshore Rebels of the sa国际传媒 Football Conference. It has also been looked at as a medium-sized venue for the Canadian men鈥檚 soccer team in World Cup qualifying games in the years ahead, against smaller CONCACAF nations, that don鈥檛 require stadiums the size of sa国际传媒 Place or BMO Field in Toronto.
Two scheduled sa国际传媒 games against Trinidad and Tobago at Westhills Stadium were 颅cancelled last year due to the pandemic.
The facility is also home to the annual sa国际传媒 Sevens women鈥檚 rugby tournament on the World Series circuit, which has been cancelled for the second consecutive year due to the pandemic.
Other sporting-venue name changes on the Island have included the former Bear Mountain Arena in Colwood, home of the Victoria Grizzlies of the sa国际传媒 Hockey League and Victoria Shamrocks of the Western Lacrosse Association, now known as The Q Centre.
The Cowichan Valley Capitals of the BCHL played at Island Savings Centre until that deal concluded in 2019 and the name reverted to Cowichan Community Centre.
Royal Athletic Park is 颅relabelled Wilson鈥檚 Group 颅Stadium at Royal Athletic Park each summer for the Victoria 颅HarbourCats鈥� West Coast League baseball season.
Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, home to the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League, has retained that dual corporate and Second World War-memorial name since opening in 2005 as the replacement for the old Memorial Arena. The original deal for the naming rights was for $1.25 million over 10 years.
That was extended in 2014 for another 10 years, running through 2024 for a reported $900,000. Under the old arrangement, the City of Victoria received $70,000 over 10 years. Under the current contract, the city gets $90,000 over 10 years.
Pacific FC is among five of eight teams in the CPL, sa国际传媒鈥檚 long-awaited domestic pro soccer league, which play in corporately sponsored stadiums. The others are Cavalry FC at ATCO Field at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Valour FC at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg, Atletico Ottawa at TD Place Stadium and Forge FC at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton. The other three CPL venues remain civically or institutionally named 鈥� FC Edmonton plays at Clarke Stadium, York United at York University Lions Stadium and HFX at the historic 颅Wanderers Grounds in Halifax.
鈥淥urs is the biggest stadium rights deal in the CPL,鈥� said Friend.
The name change from 颅Westhills to Starlight Stadium is official as of this week, but Friend said the 鈥渞ibbon cutting鈥� has been delayed to the summer because of COVID.
