Rogers snaps up naming rights to future downtown home of Edmonton Oilers

EDMONTON – Rogers Communications has purchased the naming rights for the future home of the Edmonton Oilers, further increasing the telecommunications giant’s reach in Canadian professional sports.

Rogers said in a release Tuesday that the downtown arena, which is set to open in 2016, will be named Rogers Place.

The announcement comes on the heels of a new 12-year, $5.2-billion media rights agreement between the Rogers and the NHL.

The deal, which is the largest in NHL history, gives Rogers national rights to all NHL games,on all of its platforms in all languages.

Rogers has become a major player on the Canadian sports scene in the last decade.

It owns baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays and with rival Bell is part owner of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which counts the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, NBA’s Toronto Raptors and MLS’s Toronto FC among its properties.

Rogers already has naming rights for two other major sports venues. The Blue Jays and CFL’s Toronto Argonauts play at the Rogers Centre, while the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks call Rogers Arena home.