BMO Financial Group is joining Bell Canada as a significant supporter of Vancouver’s Whitecaps FC as the team prepares to kick off its 2011 season in Major League Soccer (MLS).
Laurie Grant, a Vancouver-based spokesperson for BMO, declined to disclose how much its new relationship with the Whitecaps is worth, but told BIV on Friday it is one of the bank's largest sponsorships in Canada.
The new deal, which builds on BMO’s current five-year sponsorship, will focus on supporting youth soccer.
Grant said the bank has a particularly strong interest in supporting soccer because it is affordable, accessible and played by a culturally diverse cross-section of Canadians.
“It is definitely the most popular sport in Canada at a participation level,” said Grant, noting that 900,000 Canadians play soccer.
BMO will be the presenting sponsor of the Kickin’ with the ’Caps community program, which connects youth soccer clubs throughout the province. The program also provides youth with field experiences at intermissions during Whitecaps home games and opportunities to fundraise for their club.
Approximately 115 youth will participate in the program at each match.
BMO will also host club nights for youth teams and training sessions featuring “chalk talks” from Whitecaps FC staff and autograph sessions with players.
At every Whitecaps FC home match, BMO customers will be eligible for seat upgrades and VIP treatment.
BMO’s sponsorship of figure skating in Canada also has a strong youth focus.
In June, Bell Canada became a sponsor of the MLS-bound Whitecaps in a deal that was “more valuable for the Whitecaps and Bell than any deal that exists in the league today,” according to Wade Oosterman, Bell’s Vancouver-born president of mobility and chief brand officer (See “Whitecaps partnership with Bell worth more than US$4 million annually ” – BIV Business Today; June 11).