COMPANY BUYING RIGHTS COULD DROP 'SKYDOME'

by Jeff Blair
Toronto Globe and Mail

Toronto – Whether 'SkyDome' remains in the name of Toronto's downtown domed stadium after its naming rights are sold will be up to the company purchasing the rights, according to Silvio D'Addario, the SkyDome's chief operating officer.

Sportsco International LP, the Chicago-based owner of the SkyDome, received approval from the City of Toronto at the end of July to put up exterior signs at the SkyDome and to display other corporate signs. "It wasn't just exterior signage for the naming partner -- it was for any corporate sponsors and event information," D'Addario said yesterday.

Rogers Communications, which owns the stadium's principal tenant, the Toronto Blue Jays, has not yet been approached about its interest in purchasing the naming rights. That interest is expected to be minimal, since Rogers is believed to have designs on ultimately purchasing the stadium itself.

"There's no question that at some point we will approach them," D'Addario said of Rogers. "What's happened is that this report came out probably a couple of weeks prematurely. We would have preferred to have a little more time before the matter became public."

Special to CANADIAN BASEBALL NEWS – 14 August 2003

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