Canberra Stadium will now be known as GIO Stadium.
Canberra Stadium will be renamed GIO Stadium Canberra after the insurance company became the first naming-rights sponsor of the ACT’s premier sports venue.
GIO has signed a four-year deal with the ACT Government, with an option to extend the agreement until the end of 2021.
Andrew Barr has announced a four-year deal to rename Canberra's main stadium GIO Stadium. Photo: Rohan Thomson
It is understood the sponsorship is less than $500,000.
If GIO and the Government agree to exercising the option on the deal, GIO Stadium Canberra would then be the name of a proposed new multi-purpose stadium in Civic in 2020.
GIO Stadium Canberra will host NRL matches involving the Canberra Raiders, Super Rugby games with the ACT Brumbies and other one-off events, including rugby league, rugby union and soccer internationals.
GIO Stadium Canberra will also host six pool games and a quarter-final of soccer’s 2015 Asian Cup.
Any future A-League team in Canberra would also play out of GIO Stadium Canberra.
It is the first naming-rights sponsor for Canberra Stadium since it was built in 1977.
The Government has spent the past two years searching for a naming-rights sponsor without any luck.
It is understood the initial price tag has dropped dramatically since the search began in June 2011.
The Greater Western Sydney Giants secured a naming-rights sponsor for Manuka Oval - for matches the club plays there - this year, but the revenue raised was injected back into the AFL club instead of Canberra under the terms of their $26 million, 10-year deal with the ACT Government.
The maintenance and upgrade costs at Canberra Stadium are about $2 million a year.
The preferred plan for the new stadium in Civic is for a capacity of between 25,000 and 30,000 seats, with the ability to scale up to 45,000 seats to ensure it is able to host FIFA World Cup games for any future bids to bring the tournament to Australia.
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