[Moncton] Centre Avenir Centre | 26.65m |~6 Fl | Completed

[lirette]

Originally Posted by Sunnybrae

I would have preferred something more recognizable. They are a niche business. I think that's the disconnect. I don't know what percentage of the population uses hearing aids or needs help with hearing. At least a company like Vogue Optical (I know they started in PEI) would have been more recognizable considering the number of people who have glasses or contacts.

Even if they named the Coliseum something else, I would have still called it the Coliseum and the same will be with the events centre because in 5 or 10 years it will be called something else, but it will always be the events centre.

I know all these buildings need to have sponsorship now but I agree with Neil Peart of the band Rush when he said he missed the names of the old arenas and now he just calls them all "Financial Arena or Insurance Arena".

I think that is kind of their point..Avenir is big on raising awareness of the issue of hearing. Wearing glasses is cool now...but having to use a hearing aid is not. Its associated with the elderly.So people don't talk much about their hearing issues nor do they want to go to a doctor to find out how bad it is because they likely feel it is something that is irreversible. They likely feel raising awareness not only helps people, but is also good business.

There's a lot of technology out there now that is less invasive than a hearing aid. Theres implants you can get that even connect to your smartphone. There's a lot of $$$ in specialized industries.

[CodiacCanuck]

Originally Posted by Sunnybrae

Even if they named the Coliseum something else, I would have still called it the Coliseum...

That is understandable because it's been the Coliseum for 40+ years... just like when I walk past that iconic structure in downtown Toronto, it will always be "SkyDome" to me.
But this new building was only known as the "Events Centre" during construction. It gets to begin it's real life as the Avenir Centre... I honestly believe it will be called that relatively soon by most people.
In the mid-90s, Montreal fans were anxiously awaiting the "New Montreal Forum" to be completed, but when it opened as the Molson Centre, people quickly forgot the placeholder name. It has now been the Bell Centre since 2002... and everyone calls it the Bell Centre.

[SevenSquared]

Originally Posted by lirette

It saddens me to see a few cynical views in this forum about a naming rights deal. I expect the negative comments on facebook (a large portion of people are struggling to even understand what a naming rights deal is) but I usually come here to get my daily dose of positive comments to keep things balanced.

Personally, I don't lose any sleep over what private company is getting to put their name on a building, and I would never use the word embarrassing. I'm actually proud that its a local company, and one that looks to hope to expand from an NB company to a nation wide company. Having Rogers or Molsons name on that building does not excite me in the least.

I saw a lot of those sorts of negative comments yesterday, I had a hunch and sure enough, many of the same people have been on political overdrive lately, rage-spamming any story/post that has the French language attached to it. If the naming rights had been announced a month or two after the NB election, I think we would have seen a lot less vitriolic wackiness.

Aside from that, the reaction I've heard has been overwhelmingly positive sprinkled with a bit of neutral. Personally I'm really happy to see a small but growing local business take such a bold step.

[felip_ars]

I find it funny that SMG didnt want to divulge the fees because it's between "two private companies", but had no trouble telling everyone when Leon's bought the naming right for their arena in Kingston this Summer.

http://www.venuesnow.com/news/detail/working-furniture-franchise-enters-naming-rights-game

5 years at 250k a year with an option for renewal.

According to the article they first valued the right at about 350k/year, but had to lower their expection as Leon's was the frontrunner.

Im guessing that Avenir got a similar deal, but dont want to announce it, as im sure they were also expecting higher, and also because people would instantly make comparison to what Halifax got from ScotiaBank, and would feel like Moncton got scammed or something.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by CodiacCanuck

That is understandable because it's been the Coliseum for 40+ years... just like when I walk past that iconic structure in downtown Toronto, it will always be "SkyDome" to me.
But this new building was only known as the "Events Centre" during construction. It gets to begin it's real life as the Avenir Centre... I honestly believe it will be called that relatively soon by most people.

And to that end, even though activity in this thread is sure to drop off considerably in the near future (since construction is now complete), I'm going to PM our local Moncton moderator mylesmalley to ask that this thread be renamed to [Moncton] Avenir Centre.

Might as well get used to it........

[BlackYear]

Maybe the Avenir Centre should have been announced on day one of the shovels being put to the ground 2 years ago.

Avenir would be permanently implanted in my brain for the next 40 years. Any other company renaming it after contract is over in 5 whatever or so years would suffer.

[CodiacCanuck]

Originally Posted by Budyser

Maybe the Avenir Centre should have been announced on day one of the shovels being put to the ground 2 years ago.

Unfortunately, it never works out that way... naming is always done upon completion. Generic placeholder names are given during the construction phase.

Bell Centre in Montreal was the "New Montreal Forum" during construction.
MTS Centre in Winnipeg was initially the "True North Centre".
Ottawa's Canadian Tire Centre was originally named "The Palladium".

By the time humans walk into this building and slap down money to be entertained, it will be happening at the Avenir Centre.

[Sandbagger]

It's cool that it's a local company and all that but it still seems like a strange fit to me. For example they said they will be offering free ear plugs for every event. Not sure that's the type of atmosphere I'd want to promote for top musical act or a big playoff game or any event, really.

Maybe it's a ploy to try and balance out the parking issue for the bluehair season ticket holders

[newguy]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

Yeah they should really make a PR push to get as most 2020 Brier presales as possible. By 2020 it gonna close to half of the 5 years term, and Avenir will have some numbers on hand to see if it starting to be a good investment or not.

They have tough competition ahead, and coincidentally, 2 of them are against cities where SMG is also running their arenas (Kingston and St. Catharines). The 3rd city is Prince George, BC who back in Spring had the best presale numbers.

As for Jeux de la Francophonie, while a big event, its doesnt have the same Nationwide appeal as a Memorial Cup or a Brier. Might get an intervention or two at the end of the french sportscast and thats about it.

Maybe a joint bid with Saint John for the 2021 World Juniors is being discussed backstage. Or maybe in 2024 which could be an incentive when times to negotiate the 2nd "5 years term".

While typing this, it popped in my head, how could I forgot about the UFC lol. If a big KO occurs, or a potential "Fight of Year" candidate, people will be all over Youtube watching it over and over again, in additon to the UFC and FightTV showing that fight afterward.

For those who might be interested. The upcoming Jeux de la Francophonie will be the biggest event ever hosted by our city. These games are the Commonwealth games(obviously not as big) for the Francophone speaking nations. Even if you are an English speaker you can participate to these games if you are part of la Francophonie. It is possible that Andre De grasse could be in Moncton to run the 100m in order to practice for the upcoming World Championship. I realize that the Memorial Cup would be more exciting for the fans here in our city but I think we all underestimate the media coverage this event will receive around the world. In terms of scope, the Memorial cup pales in comparison to the Jeux de la Francophonie if you look at the number of athletes, sports..etc. The Greater Moncton area will benefit from these games for many generations to come. We just need to wait until we get closer to the games to learn more..........

[MonctonRad]

True, but as you say, the Jeux de la Francophonie are about an order of magnitude smaller than the Commonwealth Games and AFAIK, there are no plans to add new athletic infrastructure to the city prior to hosting the games.

The media coverage will be welcome, but will be limited to the Francophonie, and there will be no legacy infrastructure........

[CodiacCanuck]

Originally Posted by newguy

For those who might be interested. The upcoming Jeux de la Francophonie will be the biggest event ever hosted by our city.

Exactly. The last Francophone Games, held last year in Cote d'Ivoire, drew 4,000 athletes from 49 countries. Canada will actually be represented by three teams... Team New Brunswick, Team Quebec, and a Team Canada for the rest of the country's athletes. It will not only have national exposure, but international. And at least some of the indoor competitions (basketball, judo, wrestling, and table tennis) will be played at the Avenir Centre.

[lirette]

Originally Posted by Sandbagger

It's cool that it's a local company and all that but it still seems like a strange fit to me. For example they said they will be offering free ear plugs for every event. Not sure that's the type of atmosphere I'd want to promote for top musical act or a big playoff game or any event, really.

Maybe it's a ploy to try and balance out the parking issue for the bluehair season ticket holders

A lot of people wear earplugs at loud concerts..not just old people. It protects your hearing.

They even make specially designed earplugs now that filter out certain noise to increase the sound quality of livebands.

For hockey games I don't see it often..remains to be seen how the building acoustics will impact the sound. The horn can be quite loud sometimes..I could see it more with young children though.

[newguy]

It is my understanding that some of the infrastructure that we currently have is inadequate for the games and we will see some improvements. That is why I said we will have to wait to learn more.

[felip_ars]

For the record, Im not in any way, saying that Jeux de La Francophonie are "small" (im francophone btw). Im simply stating the fact that it's not gonna have the exposure of a Memorial Cup or a Brier.

I remember last year, and beside a 30 seconds summary at the end of sportscasts (on both TVASports and RDS), I dont recall watching any "extensive" coverage, and our delegations did pretty well (Canada finished 3rd and Quebec 8th).

As far as International coverage, yes this will beat any potential events coming in the area (Beside maybe the UFC, and the World Juniors). But for National coverage (what matter the most imo in term of raising the value of the naming rights), one day of Brier will get wayyyyy more Canadian coverage than the entire Jeux de La Francophonie.

[CodiacCanuck]

You are correct... the Brier would have quite a bit more national exposure than the Francophone Games.
I'm hoping though that, because it will be happening in Canada for only the second time ever, TSN, CBC, or SportsNet may jump in and televise parts of the Games.

[Photo1]

Why do I see people down the road somehow starting to abbreviate the Avenir Center when they say it...to something like "The Av-ee" or something...Avenir Center doesn't flow.

"Where's the concert...at the Avee."

"Where's the game...at the Avee."

No one really called it the Moncton Coliseum Complex...the called it 'the Coliseum' or 'the Agrena'...


I'm just glad it doesn't say Irving "anywhere" on that building.

[MonctonRad]

According to the T&T, Reid Mitchell, the director of hockey and scouting operations for the Toronto Maple Leafs was recently seen lurking about the Avenir Centre.

The T&T contacted Steve Keogh, the team media relations director who admitted that the Leafs were "doing their homework" about potentially using the Avenir Centre at some point in the future for a pre season training camp and potentially an exhibition game.........

[Philbilly]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

According to the T&T, Reid Mitchell, the director of hockey and scouting operations for the Toronto Maple Leafs was recently seen lurking about the Avenir Centre.

The T&T contacted Steve Keogh, the team media relations director who admitted that the Leafs were "doing their homework" about potentially using the Avenir Centre at some point in the future for a pre season training camp and potentially an exhibition game.........

As I'm a huge leafs fan, Awesome to hear ...

[Monctoncore]

Originally Posted by Philbilly

As I'm a huge leafs fan, Awesome to hear ...

Yes! Amazing news, I hope that they do come. They went to Halifax two years in a row, so it would be awesome if they did, especially with the team they currently have.

[CodiacCanuck]

Went to the Avenir Centre Grand Opening today. Very impressed with the inside of this arena.
Concourses are bright and wide. Views are exceptional from every seat. But the thing that amazed me the most was the new scoreboard. It's huge, bright, and the visual clarity is incredible. Seeing the graphics and instant replays on this thing during games will really add to the entertainment.

Also tested the parking options. Found a spot on Weldon near the St. George Street intersection, and it was only a 6 minute walk.