One of canada’s leading investment companies is limbering up to do an end zone dance.

It’s been 16 months since Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc. (IG) announced it had acquired the naming rights for the new home of the city’s Canadian Football League (CFL) franchise. After a delay of almost a year due to construction issues, plans are well underway to cut the ribbon on Investors Group Field at the end of May.

(What? International Small- to Mid-Cap Equity Fund Coliseum didn’t roll off the tongue?)

A giant church service held by One Heart Winnipeg will christen the $190-million project on May 26, followed by a Taylor Swift concert on June 22 and the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ home opener five days later.

Richard Irish, IG’s vice president of community affairs, acknowledges that IG usually isn’t in the business of paying for a facility’s naming rights, but the chance to sign a 12-year agreement with the Bombers was too good to pass up.

“No. 1, we’re headquartered here and not many companies are,” says Irish. “The Bombers are a community-based team, and we both have a long history here. We’re both in our 80s.”

Then there’s the significant marketing opportunity that the football stadium presents. Every member of the Bombers will have the IG logo on his jersey, which will be plain to see with every close-up shot during every game broadcast this season. Plus, every time the Bombers are portrayed in a highlight film package or an international recording artist pays a visit – did somebody mention the Rolling Stones? – IG will get a plug.

Even if the Bombers have another losing season like 2012, Irish isn’t concerned. A winning team isn’t required for a naming rights deal to be a success, he says: “Our name is associated with what we believe will be a state-of-the-art facility, one that will be the pre-eminent facility of its kind in North America. There is no downside to that. Last year was not necessarily a stellar year on several fronts [for the Bombers], but we certainly were – and continue to be – very proud of our association with the facility and the Winnipeg football club.”

And if IG doesn’t sell a single mutual fund due to its name on the football stadium, Irish says, he’s fine with that, too: “It’s a branding exercise, a community-relations exercise and a loyalty exercise for our advisors and our employees. Whether direct sales opportunities arise from it, that’s not the intention. Our intention is to align our brand with a strong, community-based brand and create a legacy in our headquarters city.”

One of the most risk-averse companies in Canada, IG ensured no due diligence was left undone before the deal was signed. For example, IG personnel studied the experience of other financial services firms, such as Bank of Nova Scotia and Toronto-Dominion Bank, which have bought the naming rights for other sports facilities.

“This is obviously a very significant investment for our company, from a financial perspective,” says Irish. “But it’s also a very public investment.”

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