If General Motors thought they were going to get an extra bounce from the 2010 Winter Olympics, they were wrong. The arena bearing its name in Vancouver it getting a new moniker for the games.
Let the games begin. No, not the Summer Olympic Games in China. We mean, the advertising games (and the games within the game) for the 2010 Winter Olympics. In 1995, General Motors paid nearly $20 million for a 20-year deal to have their name on the home for the Vancouver Canucks’ hockey team. The company is also a major sponsor at the Olympics.
But when the International Olympic Committee reminded locals that all sporting venues must be "clean" (free of corporate advertising inside and out) during the games, General Motors Place — where the majority of the ice hockey games will be played — had to be renamed.
The tentative new title: Canada Hockey Place. Pretty safe, isn’t it? The IOC is expected to shortly approve the new name as well as the proposed undramatic moniker of Vancouver Olympic Centre for the curling venue.
