We all know and love Credit Union Place. It's more than just a hockey arena. It's an event centre, a marketplace, and so much more. And thanks to a renewed agreement with Fusion Credit Union, it'll be Credit Union Place for a while longer.
Mike Csversko, Brand and Business Development Manager, said when the CUP was originally built back in 2006, there wasn't any hesitation in supporting it.
"It's a really important staple in the community and the region, we didn't actually put much thought into it, we knew we were going to ahead with [the sponsorship] right from the beginning...there's plenty of minor sports that use the facility, obviously the home to the Dauphin Kings, and most recent events, stuff like PBR and Kate's Outlaw, a few years back we hosted the Centennial Cup, so with that said, we know the importance of it, and the branding and recognition that comes with it is just a bonus," said Csversko.
Csversko said the staff at Dauphin Rec and Credit Union Place have always been very easy to work with, especially with renewing their agreement.
"Going through this process of negotiating a new sponsorship agreement for 10 years, they were fabulous, it was easy, they were willing to work with us, and they do a great job maintaining the facility," said Csversko.
There are a lot of arenas in Canada that have Credit Union in the name along with the sponsor, but there are only 2 Credit Union Places. Csversko said they've been looking at renaming the CUP to something more Fusion-y, but that's not high on their list of priorities right now.
"We've batted that around for a while now, there's only 2 Credit Union Place arenas in Canada, so one is in Summerside, P.E.I. and the other one being in Dauphin, we did look at rebranding it, and that's still actually on the table, we're still looking at that...we will be talking to members, we will be talking to stakeholders at Credit Union Place, and if there's a value in changing over the name beyond Credit Union Place to something more Fusion, we'll definitely entertain that in the coming years," said Csversko.
Csversko especially understands the importance of the CUP. As a lifelong Dauphinite, he has a lot of memories that only happened because of the beloved arena.
"The week that the Centennial Cup was hosted at Credit Union Place, the lively facility, the games were fantastic," said Csversko.
Dauphin and the community can take a breath, knowing that one of our most important centres will be going strong for a few more years at least.
