The Shuswap Recreation Society has officially announced the renaming of the Salmon Arm Arena from Shaw Centre to Rogers Rink. The change comes in the wake of the Rogers acquisition of Shaw last year.
David Knight, Operations Manager for the Shuswap Recreation Society, detailed the background of this name change in a memo dated February 21, 2024, to Mayor Harrison and the Council of the City of Salmon Arm, British Columbia.
“In September 2018, we extended our agreement with Shaw Cablesystems for the naming rights of the Salmon Arm Arena – Shaw Centre, until August 2035,” Knight explained. He further mentioned the financial aspect of this agreement: “Shaw committed to a total contribution of $787,486 to the Society and City, primarily for facility signage recognition.”
Rogers announced it would acquire Shaw in the spring of 2021, with the deal completing last April, after getting a green light from regulators.
“With the ownership exchange, Rogers has requested a name change to mirror the new ownership structure. The proposed name, ‘Rogers Rink’, is in line with their approved naming conventions and does not overlap with other facilities associated with Rogers,” added Knight.
“Both the Shuswap Recreation Society and Rogers support ‘Rogers Rink’ as the new name for our arena,” said Knight.
The letter from Knight hit the Salmon Arm regular council meeting agenda on Monday, March 11. The changing of the arena’s sign will be paid for by Rogers.
Salmon Arm’s arena has two NHL-sized rinks and back in 2020, hosted a stop for the Rogers Hometown Hockey tour.
