Hummingbird gives way to Sony

[Edward Skira]

Hummingbird gives way to Sony

http://www.thestar.com/article/229391

Jun 26, 2007 04:30 AM
Sony has purchased the renaming rights for the Hummingbird Centre, the Star has learned.

Toronto city council's executive committee yesterday quietly approved a confidential document that will see Sony's name on the theatre inside the building, opened in 1960 and operated for years as the O'Keefe Centre.

A source said the deal is worth $3 million to the city over 10 years, or $5 million over 20 years if Sony wishes to extend the terms.

Renowned architect Daniel Libeskind plans to build a 49-storey residential tower – shaped like a giant L – on the site and join it with the centre below. Plans include an interactive lab emphasizing the multicultural aspect of the arts, a banquet facility and video cabaret.

Hummingbird Communications has been sold to another company and no longer exists as a separate entity. The naming rights for Sony are only for the theatre. But officials have said that the deal will be a catalyst for selling naming rights to the rest of the cultural centre.

Jim Byers

 

[spaced]

Oh well, they need the money--Hummingbird isn't going to cough up 3 mil. I suppose it's better than NIKE.

 

[Mongo]

Is there any chance that Sony might rename the Hummingbird Centre, the O'Keefe Centre? It would be good public relations, I would think...

Bill

 

[wyliepoon]

While I hate the "Rogers Centre", and I'm not excited about "BMO Field", I think something like "Sony Centre" isn't bad at all. Forgive me for saying this, but it does have a world-class ring to it.

Think about some other buildings named after Sony...

New York

Ginza, Tokyo

Osaka

 

[adma]

Sadly, the latter (Kurokawa's Sony Tower in Osaka) was demolished last year.

 

[junctionist]

Is the O'Keefe Centre named after the O'Keefe Brewing Company and Argus Corporation the better name? Sure, it was run by E.P. Taylor a very important figure in Toronto's past, but the name alone won't tell you that.

If a corporation buys naming rights, they should still have a distinguishing element in the name. "The Rogers Skydome". It depends on what is being renamed though.

 

[ShonTron]

Yes, O'Keefe as in the brewery. There's still some legacy - O'Keefe House at Ryerson, O'Keefe Lane.

Hummingbird was interesting name because it was not a corporation that sold direct to consumers, unlike most naming rights these days. It also had a nice name, much like the Four Seasons CfPA. Sony Centre or Sony Place isn't terrible. The worst renaming remains the new SkyDome name, followed by the renaming of the National Trade Centre. Corporate names for new facilities are better, particuarly if there is a way for the public to shorten it for conversation, like ACC.

(Still remembering when the brewery on Carlingview Dr was Carling O'Keefe)

 

[Admiral Beez]

While I hate the "Rogers Centre", and I'm not excited about "BMO Field"

Whenever I see the BMO Field sign, I think of "Bowel Movement On Field!", sort of along the lines of Snickers in the Pool!

It would seem that only churches and perhaps public schools, thus far, are immune to corporate naming.

 

[smuncky]

It would seem that only churches and perhaps public schools, thus far, are immune to corporate naming.

well not necessarily...

'Taco Bell High' or 'Wal-mart Public School' coming to Canada?

Canadian students could soon be graduating from "Taco Bell High" or "Wal-Mart Public School" if trustees here go ahead with a scheme to sell school naming rights to corporations to raise extra funds.

The proposal has pitted members of the cash-strapped Ottawa-Carleton District School Board with public education advocacy groups who fear it would jeopardize universal education.

"No one wants to go to Taco Bell High," Ellen Dickson, chair of the Ottawa Carleton Assembly of School Councils, told the daily Ottawa Citizen.

But proponents say it would help eliminate growing budget deficits at many of Canada's school boards, hit by rising enrolment and cuts in provincial funding.

The Ottawa school board, for example, passed a 634.8-million dollar (595-million US) budget last week, but even after deep cuts, was left with a deficit of 6.2 million dollars (5.8 million US).

Ottawa trustee Riley Brockington told the Citizen in support of the plan: "I have no problem with the Loeb Library or the Cognos Centre of Performing Arts," invoking the names of a grocery chain and a software firm, respectively.

But Annie Kidder of the parents group People for Education countered: "The minute you end up with a Wal-Mart Public School ... you are taking away the notion of the importance of public education, which is to provide every child, no matter where they live or the income of their parents, with an equal chance at success."

source

 

[adma]

"Taco Bell High" might take on unfortunate anatomical connotations if attached to a Catholic girl's school...

 

[samsonyuen]

Remember when TTC was considering selling naming rights to some of the stations on the Sheppard line? That would've been awful. I like Sony Centre, it has a nice ring to it.

 

[EnviroTO]

Well city councillor Doug Holiday Inn was going to sell the naming rights to Nathan Phillips Square and City Hall wasn't he?

 

[Urban Shocker]

Timothy Eaton Memorial Church: shop 'till you drop ... or go to hell.

 

[urbandreamer]

the ipod school of music?

the church of snickers?

the sony walkman centre for the 80's year olds

 

[interchange42]

I wonder how the contract Sony signed protects it from having unacceptable brands attached to the centre as a whole? A long exclusion list maybe? Rights of first refusal?

Just how would they stop the place being named the Sony Theatre at the Everything-For-A-Dollar Centre?

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