Air Canada Centre, home to the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs and the NBA's Toronto Raptors, has announced it will hang a banner to some players who have never scored a goal nor made a basket on its floor.
The American rock band Bon Jovi will have a banner unfurled Nov. 2 at the Air Canada Centre, the Toronto Star is reporting. The band will be there for a two-night show, and an ACC spokesman has confirmed the banner hanging, as well as the naming of the band as the first inductee into the arena's new wall of fame.
"(The wall) really is showing a piece of the ACC's history so that fans can see some of the significant achievements in the building," Wayne Zronik, vice-president of live entertainment for the ACC, told the Star.
Arena administration wanted to give a special honor of a banner to the band to signify its record-breaking shows, Zronik told the newspaper.
Bon Jovi has sold more than 600,000 tickets in its 17 appearances at the ACC, more than any band in the arena's history, the Star reported. In 2008, the band beat a record it shared with the Spice Girls and the Police in selling out five shows on the same tour.
Until now, only banners celebrating sports figures adorned the ceiling of the Air Canada Centre. The banners include a chronicling of the Maple Leafs' Stanley Cup wins and retired jersey numbers of the city's hockey legends, including Mats Sundin's No. 13, the newspaper reported.
Arena officials denied any concern about whether the city's sports fans would take offense by the banners honoring non-sports figures.
"We've left plenty of room up there for Stanley Cup banners. This doesn't take away from the Leafs," Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, told the Star.
The ACC is home to more music acts than basketball or hockey games, Leiweke said. Adding a banner of the bestselling musical act fits with the arena's purpose.
"I think music is one of the strengths of the building, and this building is one of the top in North America," he said.
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