Ford Expands MLSE Agreement

Ford Canada have acquired naming rights to the square outside the Air Canada Centre in downtown Toronto as part of a five-year renewal of its sponsorship deal with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd.

The renewed and expanded sponsorship deal will also include Ford-branded signage at the Air Canada Centre. The building adjacent to the square, medicine which houses condominiums and the 3, sale 000-square-foot Real Sports Bar, stuff will continue to be called Maple Leaf Square.

The renewal agreement came into effect on July 1 and financial details of the sponsorship deal were not disclosed.

“They came to us and started talking to us about ways they could meaningfully impact fans at our games, not just with more signs,” said David Hopkinson, MLSE’s chief commercial officer.

Another element of the expanded marketing partnership will involve Ford giving away 200 tickets per Leafs‘ game. The majority of the tickets will be for seats in a new specially-marked area in the 600 section of the ACC called the Ford Fan Deck. Despite the team’s less than winning record, access to Leafs’ tickets has always been difficult for many fans, since roughly 80 per cent of seats for home games are spoken for by season ticket holders. The rest sell out quickly.