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For MLSE, renaming Maple Leaf Square 'Ford Square' new low in tone-deafness
It would seem like the Doug Ford/Rob Ford brand would be the last thing an entertainment company in Toronto would want to be associated with, even unintentionally and unwittingly.
Nevertheless, for a few dollars more, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has once again shown than whenever a seed of down-to-earth, honest, organic-seeming fandom sprouts in the city, they will be there to try to assign a dollar value to it.
The crowds that have gathered in Maple Leaf Square in recent times to cheer together during Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors games, and during hockey games at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, show how sport can bring together. The Ford family are a divisive farce, not a unifying force. Yet MLSE has plunged ahead blindly by renaming the public space Ford Square, after the auto giant. It's not a literal connection, but same name, you know ...
The large public plaza, located outside of the Air Canada Centre in downtown Toronto, will be renamed after the automobile company, Ford Canada.
The rebranding is part of a new five-year sponsorship deal with the automaker, senior director of communications for the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Dave Haggith, confirmed to CTVNews.ca in an email Thursday morning.
Haggith said an official announcement about the square's new name will be made next week, and that it will be made "clear" that it has nothing to do with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.
The new name has already irked a few people, many of them noting on social media that it's a terrible idea. (CTV News)
Let's not kid ourselves; all the Ford Canada logos in the world likely will not dissuade people from making the connection. Toronto Star hockey writer Kevin McGran was quick to point that out:
So apparently they’re going to rename Toronto’s Maple Leaf Square “Ford Square” for the auto company. But the rest of the world will think..
— Kevin McGran (@kevin_mcgran) September 25, 2014
pretty sure someone at @ford @fordcanada thought they had a career-making idea with Ford Square. Except it's trashy and unwanted. #topoli
— Karen Geier (@karengeier) September 25, 2014
Friggin' MLSE, you couldn't have sold the naming right to Coca-Cola, or Rogers like every other GD thing? Had to FORD Square, eh? Assholes.
— Joshua Hind (@joshuahind) September 25, 2014
In sponsorship deal, Toronto's Maple Leaf Square to be renamed Ford Square http://t.co/E0o2bhc3jR
— The Globe and Mail (@globeandmail) September 24, 2014
The points are the obvious. Firstly, if you have to sell naming rights, pick any other major brand that does not share a name with two politicians, let alone ones as controversial and as bad for civil discourse as the Fords. Don[t roll it out in the middle of the election campaign; sure, we are at the cusp of MLSE's two major sports holdings beginning their seasons, but check the front of the newspaper for once.
It's arrogantly tone-deaf at best and possibly electioneering at worst. Secondly, did MLSE have to sell naming rights? Probably not. Maple Leaf Square was already branding; having that space probably did a ton to strength loyalty and sell more jerseys, hats, jackets and hoodies. The Detroit Red Wings don't feel any urge to slap a sponsorship on the outside-the-arena stuff; of course, that organization has actually won Stanley Cups since the NHL expanded to 12 teams in 1967.
Now some fans will feel, more so than usual, like their loyalty has been taken for granted.
And like Doug Ford once said, in justifying why his brother's old high school football coach was on the city payroll to do not much of anything in an official capacity, you cannot put a price on loyalty. Yet MLSE just did. Shame on it.
One can always count on Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to take anything Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
