Rogers Arena is a multi-sport venue located at 800 Griffiths Way in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The building is named after its sponsor, Rogers Communications.
Owner
- Canucks Sports & Entertainment
History
The arena was completed in 1995 at a cost of C$160 million in private funding to replace the aging Pacific Coliseum as Vancouver’s primary event venue and to serve as the home arena for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League and the Vancouver Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association. The arena was originally named General Motors Place as part of a sponsorship agreement with General Motors Canada, and was commonly referred to as “GM Place” or “The Garage”. The arena also briefly hosted the Vancouver Ravens of the National Lacrosse League from 2002 to 2004. The team’s operations have since been suspended, although attempts were made to revive the team in 2007 and again in 2008.
The arena employees belong to a union. In 2007, they chose to change their union affiliation from UNITE HERE – Local 40 to the Christian Labour Association of Canada. After many months of struggle, the British Columbia Labour Relations Board declared the employees’ choice of a new union. The group of employees includes hosts, housekeepers, security guards and various event staff at the arena. UNITE-HERE Local 40 continued to represent the arena’s food service workers, employed by Aramark. Another union protest began in 2009 when concession workers, cooks and event staff at GM Place protested their pay.
The arena’s event technical staff are provided by Riggit Services Inc. That same year, the arena also received a new hanging scoreboard, which at the time was the largest in the NHL. It was temporarily renamed “Canada Hockey Place” for a two-week period during the 2010 Winter Olympics due to Olympic regulations regarding corporate sponsorship of event venues.
On July 6, 2010, it was announced that GM had declined to renew the naming rights, and Rogers Communications had acquired the naming rights under a 10-year agreement, under which it was renamed Rogers Arena. The following year, the arena entered into a five-year sponsorship agreement with PepsiCo, under which it became the exclusive supplier of beverages and snacks to Rogers Arena, and secured sponsorship placements. In addition, all concerts at Rogers Arena promote the venue as Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena.
In July 2012, Aquilini Investment Group originally planned to build the towers with condo units. The move to rental units provides the city with much-needed rental space. However, the city lost about $35 million in developer contributions to community facilities in the Northeast False Creek area that would have been collected had the buildings been condos. As of June 2016, the first tower is complete, and the second tower is nearing completion.
What is Rogers Communications?
Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company based in Toronto, with operations primarily in wireless communications, cable television, telephony and the Internet, and with other significant telecommunications and mass media assets.
- It is the second largest arena in Western Canada.
