Rogers considering selling naming rights to Rogers Centre

Rogers Communications, the company that owns both the Toronto Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre, is considering selling the naming rights to the stadium, Bob Elliot of the Canadian Baseball Network reported early Sunday evening. The stadium was renamed from the SkyDome in 2005 when Rogers Communications purchased the venue.

The most recent stadium to change names was Guaranteed Rate Field. Guaranteed Rate, an insurance company, is set to pay the Chicago White Sox roughly $2 million USD over the next 10 years for the naming rights, substantially less than the going rate for major-league stadium naming rights. According to the sponsorship trend firm IEG, the average currently rests at roughly $4.4 million.

This is the latest development in a series of reports, mostly from secondary or tertiary sources, showing that there may be rumblings within the Blue Jay organization towards a less hands-on approach by Rogers Communications. Andrew Stoeten, a Blue Jay freelancer, previously analyzed that Rogers may be considering selling the team.

The most interesting facet of the news is the analysis Rogers must perform. As a company and marketing firm, it must reach the verdict that the potential monetary gain from selling the naming rights is worth more than raising the public awareness of the Rogers brand through having the Rogers Centre attached to the company.

It's not clear whether a change in name is immediate or far-fetched.

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