Slick Ads Transform Arena Ice Nothing Rinky-Dink About Memorial Cup

College football teams invited to the Fiesta Bowl play on grass, but it’s hard to tell because of the gigantic, sprayed-on Tostitos logo.

It’s the same story with different logos at the FedEx Orange Bowl and Carquest Bowl - even the unexalted Poulan Weedeater Independence Bowl.

On-field advertising has become ubiquitous in sports, and the Spokane Arena, host of junior hockey’s prestigious Memorial Cup, is no exception.

For the nine-day tournament starting Saturday, the Arena’s normally drab sheet of white ice will burst to life with more colors than a Jackson Pollack original.

The blue lines are still blue and the crease is still the crease, but the nine face-off dots have been replaced by the red and blue yin-yang Pepsi logo.

Instead of the usual four advertisements imbedded in the ice during the regular season, teams playing in the Memorial Cup will skate over nearly two dozen scattered across the surface.

“This is going to add a lot of color and splash,” said Dave Pier, Spokane Chiefs vice president of marketing. “It’s going to look totally different.”

The ads will be upside-down for fans in the Arena’s south seats because they all face north - toward the TV cameras.

In Canada, the games will be televised nationally by sports networks TSN and RDS, the latter for French-speaking people in Quebec.

On Tuesday, workers started putting the ads on the ice - filling computer-designed stencils with paint.

They’ll be going home with stiffer necks and wrists from a brush job that takes four workers a total of eight hours.

When it’s done and an additional half-inch of ice is laid on top to seal the job, artist Ruben Macilla will stand back and beam.

“It’s the coolest thing,” Macilla said.

New ads also will be placed on the boards surrounding the rink.

Most of the profits go to the Canadian Hockey League, with the Spokane Arena receiving a percentage of ticket sales and concessions.

The Chiefs recruited Pepsi to become a sponsor because McCollum Ford was frozen out of its normal sponsorship by Chrysler’s exclusive auto company sponsorship deal. Pepsi’s advertising package was worth $50,000, he said.

“The greatest thing about it isn’t the profits from the event,” Pier said. “It gives your building a certain status.”