City of Peterborough staff are recommending the Evinrude Centre be renamed the Healthy Planet Arena, and are asking city council to bypass the city’s existing policy on naming rights in doing so.
Health and wellness retail chain Healthy Planet Canada is willing to pay $240,000 for a 10-year term of the naming rights for the Monaghan Road arena.
At its general committee meeting on Tuesday (December 1), city council will consider a report from staff that recommends council approve the sponsorship agreement with Healthy Planet outside of a request for proposals (RFP).
The city’s policy on sponsorship, naming rights and advertising requires an RFP be issued either for an arrangement that is a naming right for a city building or when the value of the naming right is greater than $150,000 — both of which apply to the proposed sponsorship agreement with Healthy Planet.
“City staff are recommending approval of this naming rights opportunity outside of an RFP process,” reads the report from chief administrative officer Sandra Clancy. “Requests for Proposals are not typically done in the sponsorship sector where the selling of sponsorships is normally achieved through extensive conversations and relationship building, culminating in achieving a commitment for a long-term association with an asset when the fit is right for both the sponsor and the property owner (the City).”
The report adds that city staff are reviewing the city’s policy and will be bringing forward recommendations to update the policy’s RFP requirement.
The report says city staff had “in-depth conversations” with around 12 potential sponsors for the naming rights for the Evinrude Centre. Healthy Planet became a corporate sponsor with the city at the beginning of 2019. The company began conversations with city staff in September 2019 to “grow its existing sponsorship relationship”, according to the report.
Healthy Planet is a Canadian family-owned health and wellness retailer that began as a kiosk in a strip mall on Toronto’s Danforth Avenue in 1995 selling nutritional supplements. Since then, it has grown to operate 28 retail locations in Ontario, including a store in Brookdale Plaze in Peterborough that opened in 2018. The retailer now sells vitamins, health foods, supplements, and bath and beauty products.
“It is seeking the ability to target high-traffic facilities and engage with an active, recreation-minded community audience,” the report states, referring to Healthy Planet. “The arena naming right is a strong fit with its audience and product offering. City staff recommend this naming rights opportunity as a good fit for a sponsorship of a community recreation facility by a retail business that specializes in health and wellness products.”
The Arenas, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee has endorsed the sponsorship opportunity with Healthy Planet, according to the report.
The city already has arena pad naming rights agreements at the twin-pad Evinrude Centre, with Leon’s Peterborough and Freedom Mobile.
The report to council notes the $240,000 in revenue from the 10-year sponsorship agreement with Healthy Planet would be allocated to “the associated program areas to support their services and facilities”.
The Evinrude Centre is named after the boat motor brand produced in Peterborough by the Outboard Marine Corporation from 1928 until 1990. The city purchased the property at at 911 Monaghan Road from Outboard Marine for $300,000 in 1995 for the construction of the arena.
The report says the city “does not have a commitment to keep the current name indefinitely” and would recognize the history of Outboard Marine on that property through a plaque in the arena. The city is also considering other opportunities to display the history of the Outboard Marine workforce in the facility.
