14
Sports
Daily business news at www.biv.com October 18–24, 2011
Golden Goals
Bob Mackin Cheers to 225 years, as Molson scion scores NHL deal; BC Place’s continuing Friday fright night adventures
G
eoff Molson had several reasons to uncap a bottle of his favourite Molson Export on October 6 in St. John’s. The day the National Hockey League season opened, the Ontario Superior Court flushed the Labatt challenge to MolsonCoors’ sponsorship of the NHL. The seventh-generation descendant of Montreal brewing pioneer John Molson was also finishing a five-city, cross-Canada tour to promote the 225th anniversary of Canada’s second-oldest company. The tour, with brother and MolsonCoors chairman Andrew Molson, began at the brewery on Burrard and the Vancouver Board of Trade on September 27. The 40-year-old remains a member of the board of directors but spends much of his time tending his family’s other big asset, the Montreal Canadiens. He bought the storied team in 2009 after financially troubled American George Gillett was forced to sell. Though Molson returned to league-wide sponsorship, it’s no longer served at Rogers Arena where Labatt took over pouring
rights this season. “These things come and go over time,” Molson told Business in Vancouver. “The nice thing about being a Canadian sponsor is that you can develop programs you can bring to all markets.” Vancouver remains the mostimportant market in Western Canada, for obvious reasons. “This brewery is a very important brewery to our network, it supplies the West, and we need it, it’s a good strong-performing brewery,” Molson said. “We’re investing in this brewery to make it even stronger, regardless of the value of the real estate underneath us.” MolsonCoors holds, through its Creemore Springs division, Granville Island Brewing. It became a more significant part of the company last spring when the Six Pints microbrewing division was announced. Microbreweries, brewpubs and imports have fragmented the market and MolsonCoors wants some of that market share back. “Granville Island brews great beers, every once in a while they’ll come up with a new variant and it sticks,” Molson said. “The nice
thing about being a small brewer is you can try new things. If it works, you stick with it, if it doesn’t you move on to the next thing.” The newest is a Pumpkin Ale, just in time for Halloween. Friday fright night Memo to event promoters: you might want to avoid booking BC Place Stadium on a Friday. While the rest of the world says “Thank God it’s Friday!” the stadium says “Oh no, it’s Friday!” Consider the history. It was Friday, January 5, 2007, when the roof ripped and collapsed. An arm of the Olympic cauldron didn’t emerge from the false floor during the Friday, February 12, 2010, opening ceremony. A cable for the new roof crashed to the ground on Friday, December 3, 2010. Long lineups at box offices and short-supplied concession stands marred the reopening on September 30, 2011. Also a Friday. The BC Lions were 4,000 shy of selling out on their return downtown from their Empire Field exile. Attendance dropped to just over 30,000 for their next game on
October 8. Certainly the service levels at the “reopener” could have influenced the sharp decline and should have suggested to BC Pavilion Corp. (PavCo) that the originally contemplated November 1 reopening would have been wiser. That was the date considered last year by the Crown corporation’s construction committee. Last February, PavCo chairman David Podmore announced September 30 and stuck with it. Meanwhile Quebec steel supplier Structal and
“We’re investing in this brewery to make it even stronger, regardless of the value of the real estate underneath us” – Geoff Molson, director and Montreal Canadiens owner, MolsonCoors
French cable installer Freyssinet went tete-a-tete over tower and cable installation troubles. Structal reported a $25 million cost overrun to shareholders and the application of roof fabric was delayed from February to June. The roof was not fully welded or sealed even two weeks after the opening, allowing rain to seep in. Meanwhile, the stadium’s unionized workers voted to strike and
neighbours are complaining about the brightness of the Terry Fox Plaza advertising screen. With all the chaos, it’s no surprise that the name of Telus or one of its products is not yet on the building. Expect the long-awaited naming rights deal to finally be announced at the end of this month or early November. Crews continue to install, test and practice the Cisco-provided StadiumVision media -management system. Expect the Telus deal to be heavy on value in-kind. The company already has a 10year, $1 billion deal to supply the government. While BC Place’s benefits to citizens in Prince George, Port Hardy and Pouce Coupe are slim to none, Telus and the government are hyping plans to expand and improve mobile phone and broadband Internet service in rural areas. Correction: Scott Cousens is director of capital markets for Vancouver-based global mining group Hunter Dickinson Inc. and the donor of $23 million to the MultiSport Centre of Excellence in Burnaby. He was incorrectly identified in the previous Golden Goals column (issue 1145; October 4-10). • 2010goldrush@gmail.com twitter.com/bobmackin