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IRELAND’S LARGEST THEATRE, the Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin’s docklands, is to be renamed next year in a deal worth around €4.5m.
Bord Gais Energy today confirmed it has secured a commercial partnership with the venue’s owners Live Nation to rename the facility as the ‘Bord Gáis Energy Theatre’. The deal takes effect next year.
The deal will see the energy provider access to free, discounted and advance-access tickets for performance at the venue, which BGE intends to make available to customers in order to promote customer loyalty.
A statement from Bord Gáis confirming the deal did not say how much money had changed hands, but said the provider would seek to get “over €4.5m of media value” through branding on tickets and other materials advertising performances at the theatre.
The deal will also see Bord Gáis Energy become the official energy provider for the theatre and for other Live Nation venues, which include The O2.
Live Nation chief executive Mike Adamson said he was confident that the “innovative partnership” could set a new standard for similar naming sponsorships.
Bord Gáis CEO John Mullins said the investment would be funded from its existing budget, and that the partnership would bring “a range of unique benefits to Bord Gáis Energy customers”.
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Grand Canal it shall remain so
Absolutely! Some people are just too greedy!
It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. Stupid idea. Waste of money.
Now that’s just a stupid name.
For CHRIST SAKE! What a stupid name. I’m really sick of this naming crap. So help me God if Croke Park ever gets renamed the FBD insurance stadium.
I feel a gas price increase coming…..?
wow what a waste of money and what a shit name !!
for me, the point depot remains, I still refer to lansdown road and will continue to say ‘grand canal theater’. I refuse to be used as an advertising agaent in my personal conversations, unless they pay me for each time I mention them.
the aviva debacle has turned into a massive embarrassment for them… there should have been a lesson learned, but greed always wins in Ireland & I have a feeling that’s not the only time I will make that statement this week.
worth 4.5million to whom?
Dear god…
A Dana moment?
@Martin Mc Cormack… Believe me, definitely not a Dana moment, I can assure you of that.
They up the price of energy, then waste ?4.5ml on naming the theatre. Appauling stuff!!!!
Croke park is to be renamed “I can’t believe it’s not butter stadium”.
This is an act of crass philistinism on the part of Bord Gáis. It’s bad enough having sports stadia re-named “Aviva” and the like but for a theatre to be so crudely re-named in this manner with the moniker of it’s sponsor betrays a contempt for art and culture. Surely, the energy deal with Live Nation and the use of the BGE logo on tickets, programmes and the like would be enough? The Grand Canal Theatre name has a touch of class; The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre is utterly vulgar. Shame on you Bord Gáis.
The Bord Gais Energy Theatre. Really…
“Let’s do something fun tonight”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, how about we catch a Play at a theatre nearby?”
“Great, let’s check the listings!”
“What’s this? The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre? What… When did…”
“….”
“….”
“Maybe we just stay in…”
“… Yeah… okay…”
To summarise, I think I just heard cobwebs and tumbleweeds being delivered to the box office. Somebody should go out to them, LEST THEY BE CONFUSED WITH THE NAME ON THE ADDRESS…
Dopes
Total disaster, at least Harry will get a chunk of change before it all goes down the drain, for goodness sake who did the market research on that name they should be fired immediately, O2 arena, aviva stadium nice names that can be shortened with “the” O2 or “The” aviva. The “bord gais energy” I think not.
Awful name, however I hope at least that they pronounce it correctly.
Lucy Kennedy in the Big Switch TV used to say ‘bord “gosh” ‘ !?
This is the kinda of name that you would expect the losing team on the apprentice to come up with.
Atrocious name. Was there no research done on the name at all. Madness
maybe they did!
Let’s call it the BGET for short? as in beejit; #FAIL
Board gais pay thousands for new comfy chairs,4.5 million to name a Celtic tiger icon and apply to the energy regulator for a price hike all within a few months…isn’t it a great little country we live in!!!
What a huge amount of bull….. This is now getting ridiculous
I can’t believe Bord Gáis actually think this is good branding. What a truly awful name for such a great theatre!
What next..! The Brennans Bread Savoy..tidays filims TIDAY! Thats a marketing brain fart if ever there was one.
ha ha that’s gas! Seriously though leave the name alone, muppets
pure crap. stupid name. cheap and tacky. why are they wasting money on this? consumers will foot the bill for it.
WTF…lol, this is a piss-take? right?
Grand Canal Theatre sounded grand, Bord Gais Energy Theatre, give me a f…king break.
Disgraceful. I’m moving to airtricity in protest. You should be ashamed.
Yeah me too! This is worth a boycott!
I wonder could we get some money for the government coffers by selling the naming rights on the Dail, the Senate and the offices of the Taoiseach? Then maybe the Museums and Art galleries, the National Concert Hall. What about the Aras?? Any suggestions as to what they might be renamed to? The Guinness Dail? The Budweiser Senate? The Airtricity Aras?
The Grand Canal Theatre is a great name! Why oh why would they want to distroy it with such a tongue twister! Another stupid waste of money when there are better things to spend it on!!!
And if its necessary to rename it, at least name it in honour of a playwright or writer, who seem to be only good enough to walk over (Beckett, O’Casey, Joyce), or how about a famous actor or acting family! Cusack Theatre anyone?
ah ffs. wat a stupid name leave name as it is…
Sounds like a power plant station.
Are they serious? Has this not gone too far?
What next….Jameson Irish Whiskey International Airport? NAMA Station, Pearse st? The National Rabo Direct Concert Hall? Quinndirect.com Shopping Centre Dundrum!
Yet another transfer of public funds to a property developer!? For crying out loud! If a private company wanted to waste money on such dubious PR that’s their prerogative but this is a few million of *OUR* money!
Come on lads let’s head down to the bord Gais tonight! I don’t think so!!! It’s been the grand canal since it opened and i don’t see why it should change now.
its gastronomic god wheres the bucket
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