Following on from their early withdrawal of sponsorship of football stadia Telstra Dome and Telstra Stadium, Telstra revealed their new corporate sponsorship direction. At a press conference this morning, it was announced that Telstra would, from January 1st 2009, be sponsoring Melbourne. Naming rights have been optioned for five years.
Full details of the plan are yet to be disclosed, while initial suggestions were that Melbourne would be renamed to "Telstra City", or simply "Telstra", but these were unfounded. It is expected that simply, "Telstra Melbourne" will be adopted as the new moniker. Guide books, maps and other tourist information will have to be updated accordingly. It is also unsure whether the naming rights extend to individual parts of Telstra Melbourne, or indeed whether individual parts of Telstra will be associated with certain suburbs or areas. Events could take place in the BigPond CBD, or on Operations Brunswick St.
Other, similar deals are expected to be revealed in the days ahead, but this announcement has overshadowed Vodafone's proposed sponsorship of St. Kilda. A senior Tesltra manager was quoted as saying "heroin and hookers... they can have it."
Mayor John So hailed the sponsorship as vital for the future of Telstra Melbourne.