MLSE is going to honour Bon Jovi with a permanent banner inside the ACC. Until now, the only banners you'd find hanging from the rafters honour sports teams and players who have called the venue home. Stanley Cup banners, retired and honoured players and the like.
These teams and players represented the city of Toronto in sport. Adding a banner for a popular band lessens these accomplishments. Bands perform shows, like a circus or ice capades, and Bon Jovi has no ties to this city except for the fact they sell a lot of tickets here.
And that's where the optics get fuzzy. Is Bon Jovi being honoured for making MLSE a lot of money? And as Pension Plan Puppets points out, what's President and CEO Tim Leiweke's role in all of this? He was previously CEO of the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which represented Bon Jovi in the past. Is Tim Leiweke helping to promote a former client here?
As Mr. Horse would say on Ren and Stimpy, no sir... I don't like it. And I'd feel the same way if it was The Tragically Hip being honoured instead of Bon Jovi.
