Administration will recommend that city council renew the naming rights agreement with CN Rail for the home of the Prince George Cougars at its Monday, March 24 meeting.
The current agreement for the CN Centre expires on March 31, 2025.
CN Rail has held the naming rights for what was formerly known as the Prince George Multiplex since 2005.
According to a report prepared by city staff, the most recent agreement with CN provided the company an option to renew the contract for another five years with the same terms, except for the licensing fee and the renewal option.
“This clause is part of the current council approved agreement however, administration is of the view that we require council approval for the renewal licence fee,” staff’s report said.
For the proposed new five-year term from 2025 to 2030, staff have negotiated a rate of $100,000 per year for a total of $500,000.
That’s a 33.33 per cent increase from the last five years, which paid out a total of $375,000.
The original 15-year agreement from 2005 to 2020 paid the city a total of $1 million, $100,000 per year from 2005 to 2010 and $50,000 a year from 2010 to 2020.
Under the terms of the agreement, which are largely the same as the original 2005 document, CN has the right to rename the facility if the company changes its own name.
The city retains the right to rename portions of the facility, so long as that name is not the same as a competitor of CN’s within the freight sector.
Prince George agreed in the original document to send emails to CN from time to time letting the company know what events are being held at the venue.
If any events fall under certain conditions laid out by CN, such as ones that include violence or pornography, CN has the right to publicly disassociate itself from them.
In the original agreement, CN also paid $300,000 plus GST to occupy private suite No. 1 in the arena, payable in annual instalments of $20,000.
