Auto dealer buys rights to rink name
West Edmonton Mall’s skating surface will be the Mayfield Toyota Ice Palace
West Edmonton Mall’s indoor skating rink is now the Mayfield Toyota Ice Palace after North America’s largest shopping centre sold the naming rights to the attraction.
The auto dealer signed a five-year partnership with the mall giving it the name, a new centre-ice logo and signage. It’s now also the exclusive automotive partner of the facility, allowing it to hold six major sales events at the site each year.
It’s the first time West Edmonton Mall has sold the naming rights to an attraction.
“It just made sense,” said Daniel Person, mall vice-president of specialty leasings and partnerships.
“We’re able to turn an asset in the centre of the building that probably gets the most publicity in terms of visibility and traffic.”
The Ice Palace hosts 35 major events every year including hockey tournaments, figure skating championships and community events.
Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. It’s the largest marketing partnership agreement for Mayfield Toyota, said general manager David Friesen. “It’s exposure,” said Friesen. The dealership previously held successful car sales events at the mall and wanted to expand its presence there.
“We tend to go there on the long weekends where they have a count of over 100,000 people a day going through there and it allows us to get our product in front of people that may not necessarily come and find us.”
The deal doesn’t mean the names of other attractions such as its water and amusement parks are up for sale, but offers would be considered. “We would certainly consider it but it’s got to be the right fit,” Person said.