It had to happen eventually.....

[Lions4ever]

I dont like the idea

Grey Cup
Super Bowl
World Series
Stanley Cup
World cup

These championship games dont need a 'Cheesy cheezits name in front of it. Let the college bowls do it - but not at the pro level

Well, if it were to be called the Cheez-Its Grey Cup, that would be different. Mmmm... Cheez-Its!!!!

I'm actually working through a box of Hot & Spicy right now!

[sj-roc]

There needs to be a distinction here between the Grey Cup game and the Grey Cup trophy. If the former, then I can probably live with that. I would be much more upset if a sponsor put their name on the trophy itself, or heaven forbid, created a whole new trophy in their image, akin to what has happened with the Brier as it has changed sponsorship from Labatt to Nokia to Tim Horton's with the last 10 years.

[Hutch85]

It's a bit of a slippery slope, IMHO... if you're willing to sell out to the Rona's, Ford's, et al; what's next at renegotiation time when someone else may come in with more $$... "The Viagra Grey Cup: 'When you need a winning performance'...".

Sure, I can poke fun at it too, but I just don't like it, no sir...

[smphantom]

Derek - How about the "Lionbackers.com Grey Cup"??

Put in a bid.

[D]

Derek - How about the "Lionbackers.com Grey Cup"??

Put in a bid.

wtf man .... I can't do everything I already own The Grey Cup.com
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[kamfan]

I am going to take a contrary and contriversial point of view on this. It is already "sponsored" by guy that donated it in the first place, Lord Grey. So for many years now, it has sported his name as a vanity, for no real money to the league. Tradition states that keeping that name is the right thing to do, but why shouldn't the league make some money out of a tradition that really is no different than this arrangement.

[TheLionKing]

I totally agree with Mightybuck. Some things money can't buy and the Grey Cup, and the Stanley Cup is two of those.

[Robbie]

There needs to be a distinction here between the Grey Cup game and the Grey Cup trophy. If the former, then I can probably live with that. I would be much more upset if a sponsor put their name on the trophy itself, or heaven forbid, created a whole new trophy in their image.

That is an excellent point. Naming rights won't really bother me, but if they totally re-name or re-design the Grey Cup trophy, that's something else. When Scotiabank bought naming rights to the two Division Championship games in 2004, they not only re-named the two games, but also re-named and re-designed the two Division Championship trophies too, as shown in this thread:

http://lionbackers.com/cheer/viewtopic.php?t=7931

[Solar Max]

They can call it whatever they want, for $10 million. Everyone will still call it the Grey Cup regardless of what sponsor's name is on it.

Honestly, who objects to:

Scotiabank West and East Finals
GM Place
Rexall Center
Staples Center

It will still be the Grey Cup Classic, no matter what. And the teams gets some cash out of it to help out with expenses.

[Rammer]

Lord Earl Grey Cup sponsered by "insert tea company here". They would be able to capitalize on the Grey Cup name, while not being as intrusive on the naming rights.

[Toppy Vann]

I don't want the name Grey Cup Game to be downplayed and yet realistically, it'd be better for the league and the players etc if they had more money rolling in. We all know they still pay ousy for many of the staff who work for them and even assistant coaches and PR players.

I recall a time when the CFL awards for called "the Schenleys" and people would ask if they thought that a certain player would win a Schenley this year. I wished they could have kept that name going much like it'd be sad to lose the name Grey on the Grey Cup game. I doubt this will occur.

Some examples:

"Ray Nettles joined the B.C. Lions at the beginning of the 1972 season. He was named to the Western Football Conference's All-Star teams each of his first three years with B.C., making the CFL All-Star squad in 1972 and 1973.

In 1973 he also won the Schenley Award as the CFL's oustanding lineman. Nettles was traded to the Toronto Argonauts in 1977. In addition to being named Toronto's outstanding defensive player he was an Eastern Football Conference All-Star in 1977, and won the honour again in 1978 as a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Nettles completed his 122-game career with a series of one-year stints with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1978), Ottawa Rough Riders (1979) and Calgary Stampeders (1980). "

Tony Gabriel:

"The 1974 CFL season would see (Tony) Gabriel reach personal bests with 61 receptions for 795 yards but the team continued its decline. Hamilton slipped to 7-9 as the East played its first 16 game schedule. In the off-season, Gabriel was traded to the Ottawa Rough Riders in a 5-player exchange. However, Gabriel would go to the nation's capital as a Schenley Award winner. His season was considered the best for a Canadian in the CFL. It was the beginning of Gabriel's dominance at tight end. From 1974 to 1978 the consistent Gabriel would lead the East division in receptions.... In both 1975 and 76, Gabriel topped 1,000 yards receiving and added to his trophy collection, bringing home a second Schenley for Outstanding Canadian Player. ...However, despite his team's disappointing season, Gabriel would add a second consecutive Schenley as most valuable Canadian.

Personally, Tony Gabriel received his highest honour in 1978. Finishing with 67 catches for 1070 yards and 11 touchdowns, Gabriel defeated Edmonton quarterback Tom Wilkinson in the voting for the Schenley Most Valuable Player in the CFL. No Canadian had won it since Ottawa's Russ Jackson had in 1969. And no Canadian has done so since. "

"Linebacker and future Hall of Famer Dan Kepley won the Schenley as the CFL?s top Defensive Player. "

EVANSHEN, TERRY, Elected as a Player, March 16, 1984. This sure-handed Wide Receiver, Split End and Flanker spent 14 seasons with Montreal, Calgary, Hamilton and Toronto, catching 600 passes for 9,697 yards and 80 touchdowns. He twice won the Schenley as the CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian, earned All-Conference All-Star honours six times and All-Canadian selection once.

FALONEY, BERNIE, Elected as a Player, May 6, 1974. His CFL career began in 1954 when he and Jackie Parker quarterbacked Edmonton to the Grey Cup victory. From 1957 to 1964 he led Hamilton to seven Grey Cup finals, winning the Schenley as the CFL's Most Outstanding Player in 1961. Faloney moved to Montreal in 1965 and ended his career two years later with B.C."

This is the history of the Schenleys:

"Schenley Awards, emblematic of excellence in Canadian professional football, were originally created to honour the most outstanding player in the CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE in 1953. That year Billy Vessels of the Edmonton Eskimos became the first recipient. New categories were added in 1954 (most outstanding Canadian player) and 1955 (most outstanding defensive player). In 1972 another category was added, the most outstanding rookie, and the most outstanding offensive lineman category was included in 1974.

Russ JACKSON was 3 times outstanding player and 4 times outstanding Canadian. Jackie PARKER was also outstanding player 3 times, while Calgary Stampeder Wayne HARRIS was 4 times outstanding defensive player. The winners are chosen by members of the Football Reporters of Canada. Schenley left the sponsorship of the awards in 1988. They have been sponsored by GMC Trucks (1991-93) and Chrysler (since 1994) but are still commonly called the Schenleys. "

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/ ... RTA0007198

[CB123]

I think it would be better if it was "The Grey Cup Presented By ____"

[maddeep73]

They can call it whatever they want, for $10 million. Everyone will still call it the Grey Cup regardless of what sponsor's name is on it.

Honestly, who objects to:

Scotiabank West and East Finals
GM Place
Rexall Center
Staples Center

It will still be the Grey Cup Classic, no matter what. And the teams gets some cash out of it to help out with expenses.

Yup. Can you imagine if the league fell back into financial hardship because we couldn't accept a sponsers name on a trophy? Some things are worth sacrificing for the good of the league and it's survival.

[Robbie]

I recall a time when the CFL awards for called "the Schenleys" and people would ask if they thought that a certain player would win a Schenley this year.

That's a great point, Toppy Vann. Schenley was the sponsor for so many years that the name became engrained in every CFL fan. As I stated in this thread: http://www.lionbackers.com/cheer/viewtopic.php?t=6945 I liked the way Schenley held the awards format. And I think that the trophies awarded by Schenley were much better looking than those currently awarded by Rogers.

Schenley left the sponsorship of the awards in 1988. They have been sponsored by GMC Trucks (1991-93) and Chrysler (since 1994) but are still commonly called the Schenleys.

Rogers took over sponsorship in 1995.

So, it's a fact that corporate sponsorship changes do indeed bring about several changes with regards to awards. At least three examples in recent history has proven this:

#1. After Schenley stopped sponsoring the individual season player awards in 1988, the trophy styles changed dramatically from a big, tall golden one to a smaller one.

#2. After Scotiabank bought the naming rights to the East and West Division Championship games in 2004, the traditional Division Championship trophies were replaced entirely.

#3. After GMC stopped sponsorship of the Grey Cup MVP and MOC, the winners no longer received a brand new GMC truck. This was recently discussed when we talked about how Dickenson got only $10,000 for his GC MVP performance.

I have illustrated these changes below. You can decide for yourself whether you like the before or after.

So having said all this, if a new naming sponsor comes around for the Grey Cup, will the name or even the design of the trophy change entirely?

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replaced with:



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replaced with:



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replaced with:

$10,000 (much less than the cost of the truck)

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replaced with.....

[Lionut]

That $10 million number sounds a little inflated to me. I'll gladly stand corrected if it ends up being that high, but barring any independent confirmation from a sports marketing/advertising type, colour me skeptical that someone would be willing to fork over that much coin on an annual basis...