A request to discuss renaming one of the fields at Commonwealth Stadium to Play Alberta Field came to Edmonton's Naming Committee, a member has confirmed to Taproot.
In December, the committee was consulted on naming a field within the stadium after the gambling website. Play Alberta is the only regulated online gambling website that is offered to Albertans. It is operated by Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis. The revenue the website generates goes into the provincial general revenue fund.
Taproot asked the City of Edmonton to confirm the sale and provide specific details such as which field, the value of the deal, and other points, but a spokesperson said a news release would be available soon.
The Facility Name Sale Policy, adopted in 2007, allows city-owned facilities to be named after corporations or businesses as recognition for financial support. The policy states that city facilities must only be linked with organizations that are "compatible with, complementary to, and reflective of the City's values and mandate."
On Dec. 2, the Naming Committee passed a motion that stated the committee "rejects the naming of the field within the Commonwealth Stadium in the McCauley Neighbourhood as 'Play Alberta Field.'"
Matt Dance, the committee's chair, clarified to Taproot that the committee's motion was not about the name but rather the committee's role in discussing names brought forward under the city's Facility Name Sale Policy. While the committee's mandate is to approve names that meet the criteria laid out in the Naming Policy, "the Name Sale Policy is interested in making money — in selling the naming rights to specific things and then putting that name … on that thing," Dance told Taproot.
The committee also passed a motion to make a similar point on the Booster Juice Recreation Centre in Terwillegar name, which replaced Terwillegar Community Rec Centre and was announced in August 2024. "We're really agnostic on the names that come forward through the Name Sale Policy," Dance said. "We just don't feel that we're in a capacity to approve or disapprove something that's being approved by a different process."
At the Dec. 2 meeting, the committee made a motion asking city council "to consider the erosion of place-making through the sale of naming rights of civic assets, and how this does not align with the values expressed in the Naming Policy."
Council voted unanimously to accept the name sale agreement for the Edmonton Elks partner field at a council meeting in early February. Discussions about the agreement were held in private. Taproot has not been able to confirm which field in Commonwealth Stadium will be renamed. In June 2016, the Elks announced a five-year naming rights agreement with The Brick that renamed the field 'The Brick Field.' The Commonwealth Community Recreation Centre immediately beside Commonwealth Stadium also has an indoor recreation field.
The committee is reviewing the Naming Policy and its relationship to the Facility Name Sale Policy. By the end of 2026, the two policies will no longer reference each other and administration will no longer be required to consult the committee regarding the sale of facility names, according to the committee's 2025 work plan.
Correction: This story has been changed to correct the process the naming committee took upon receiving a request to discuss the renaming that resulted from the city's Facility Name Sale Policy.