The Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee wants the city to look into selling advertising at local arenas and sports fields.
The idea was thought up by committee member Marsha Coppola, but it was Chair Kieran Daniels who brought forward the proposal during a June 5 committee meeting.
“There’s the possibility of promoting local businesses,” he said. “There’s the possibility of further income that can be put directly towards Thorold baseball or Thorold soccer or Thorold hockey.”
Committee member Tony Vandermaas said that the city used to sell advertising in the Thorold Community Arenas.
“The revenue was shared,” he told committee members. “They ran into some problems with who was getting the money.”
The Acting Supervisor of Parks and Cemetery, Jacob Tedesco, was on hand to give a little more context.
“It was previously the Blackhawks that took a share of the revenue,” he explained. “I believe the contract had expired sometime during COVID and it was chosen not to be renewed at that time, just due to the lack of people throughout COVID.”
Daniels thinks that selling advertising space could not only help local sports, but also local businesses.
“There’s a variety of new and different ways we can achieve it rather than just the arena,” he said. “We have soccer fields. I know there’s 150 kids there on a Tuesday night. If you had some advertising on the fences you could sell it to local businesses.”
The proposal was well received by other committee members and will be put forward to city council at a later date.
