It’s common practice with sports arenas, but a Saskatchewan town is taking the unprecedented step of selling its naming rights to a corporate partner.
Duck Lake — an historic community best known as the site of a key battle during the North-West Rebellion in 1885 — is looking for a new name, municipal leaders say, as a way to kickstart efforts to revitalize the community after decades of stagnation.
Mayor Jason Anderson said the initiative, which the town’s council voted in favour of, will help usher in a new era in Duck Lake … or whatever it ends up being named.
“Renaming a town as historic as Duck Lake doesn’t come cheap,” Anderson said in a statement Thursday.
“We’re not talking about a rink or a stadium here — we’re talking about a living, breathing community with deep roots in Canada’s story.
“Brands will need to put their best foot forward if they want to be part of that legacy.”
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The price tag, Anderson said, is in the $10-million range, to ensure a potential partner takes it seriously.
The new name of the community would be “(BrandName), Saskatchewan,” and would be the first time a Canadian city has attempted it.
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Anderson told Global News he got the idea before he even ran for council, after reading about a naming-rights deal at a U.S. stadium.
“Every municipality can always use some additional funds, so when I was going to run, I thought… we’re going to go for naming rights for our community hall and for our skating rink,” he said.
“But, I thought, that’s only a couple of dollars and that’s it… with the amount of money that those people are spending for naming rights for a stadium, it’s too bad we didn’t have something else that we might be able to try. Maybe somebody would be really interested in that.
“Why not the name of the town?”
The community, Anderson said, has been looking for a way to fund much needed infrastructure work, without resorting to raising taxes. Partnering up on the naming rights is a unique solution, provided the potential rights holders respect Duck Lake’s history.
“If we could find a partner that would want to join with the town, make sure that they were respecting the history of this place, and that could share the same kind of ideals and values that we have here… well then, why not at least try?”
Anderson said the plan is to accept tenders by March 31, 2026, and then invite potential partners to attend a public meeting in early April, so members of the community can be involved in the process as well.
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