Ads on the boards at local rinks could look a little different in the near future.
At Monday night’s council meeting, Director of Parks, Recreation, and Facilities, Rob Pollock will present options on how the municipality could handle advertising in arenas.
Currently, arena advertising in Chatham-Kent is handled by a private company, with the municipality receiving a guaranteed $46,000 each year. Pollock says that model leaves the municipality with limited control over how ads are sold and which businesses are promoted.
Administration is recommending council consider bringing the management of arena advertising in-house, with Pollock writing in their report that “a full-time Coordinator, Recreation Advertising and Sponsorship would be hired to lead, develop, and implement advertising and sponsorship revenue-generating services for recreation facilities and recreation programs.”
Pollock explained that a target of $134,000 would be required to keep the costs away from taxpayers. Any additional revenue being generated would allow council to determine the use of those funds during future budget deliberations.
The report does mention a financial risk if the amount required to operate in-house is not met, but it does allow the municipality to open up advertising to other areas like pools, public skates, and other recreational activities.
Other options up for consideration are keeping the current third-party-based model, which would net a guaranteed $46,000, or the third option of giving advertising rights to user groups like junior and senior teams, in which the municipality would lose the guaranteed revenue.
