Who on earth would buy the naming rights for St James’s Park?
Posted on October 29th, 2009 | 82 Comments |
There is also another question that comes to mind, to the mind of this writer anyway; who on earth would want to step into what could be one of the most controversial deals in the history of corporate sponsorship? Until now, the naming rights for the stadiums of larger clubs have been restricted to new builds such as the ‘Reebok’ in Bolton, the ‘Emirates’ in North London, the ‘JJB’ / ‘DW’ in Wigan and several others. So far, so uncontroversial. However, large established names with large historic grounds such as Manchester United with Old Trafford, Liverpool with Anfield etc have so far resisted the temptation to sell naming rights despite their owners being under great financial pressure with debt and the spiralling inflation prevalent at the top of the football world. Of course, a biggest part of this is that their names have attained an iconic status within football over a very long period like, dare I say it, the big elephant on the hill that is St James’s Park itself. Certainly, it would be seen as sacriligeous and far too controversial in many quarters, and would probably be more trouble than it is worth.
Another aspect was also touched on by a story in the Mirror’s “Betting Blog” which asked the question:
But if nobody can be found to stump up £100million to buy the club it’s highly unlikely anyone’s going to pay £20million to associate their name with the ground?
While the £20 million figure seems to have been plucked from thin air, possibly suggested by Mike Ashley’s other announcement that he will be ploughing another £20 million into Newcastle United this year, it remains a pertinent question. If nobody wants to buy Newcastle United (except for one man who couldn’t really afford it), who would want to sponsor it, especially under such controversial circumstances? Rather than acheiving some kind of positive PR value, the sponsors would be stepping into a world that is mired in controversy and ill feeling, and could face demos from furious supporters who will not take kindly to the renaming of one of the city’s foremost landmarks. As with buying the club, in a post recession world that is positively groaning with corporate sports sponsorship opportunities, why pay what would undoubtedly be a very large sum for all this potential PR hassle?
Speaking to Tyneside ‘paper, the Chronic, Professor Richard Slack, principal lecturer in accounting and finance at Northumbria University’s Newcastle Business School said that he believed that Newcastle United would possibly realise a sum of around £3 million pounds per annum for a naming rights deal. To put this in perspective, UAE air carrier, Emirates reached a 15 year agreement for the renaming rights of Arsenal’s new Ashburton Grove stadium for a sum which roughly equates to £6.6 million per year in 2004. More recently, Bolton Wanderers reached an agreement with Reebok for naming rights to it’s stadium for a few which equates to around £1.2m a year, leaving Professor Slack’s estimate somewhere in the middle. However, as pointed out above, there is a crucial difference between those two examples and Saint James’s. They have used naming rights sponsorship as a way of covering the cost’s of new stadium construction, whereas with Newcastle United, the proposal is to rename a landmark which has been part of the very fabric of the city since 1892. A committed Leicester City fan (another club who play in a relatively new stadium which is name sponsored by Walker’s crisps), Mick Bembridge, touched on this difference when he said:
“It’s slightly different with us because we got a new ground and have always known it by its current name.
“But if the old Filbert Street had lost its name there would have been uproar. Some traditions have been around too long to mess about with and I can understand Newcastle fans being angry.”
Going back to Professor Slack, he also reflected on these concerns to the Chronic saying:
“The name St James’s Park is synonymous with the club and I can’t see that ever changing.
“A new name just wouldn’t catch on with supporters, people who live in the city and also people across the country. St James’s Park is Newcastle United in many people’s minds.
“For a sponsor to get anything out of taking naming rights they would have to be sure that their brand becomes an integral part of Newcastle United.”
So, in conclusion, I find it hard to see how the benefits would outweigh the risks for a sponsor getting involved in a venture such as this. Indeed, the bookmaker, William Hill, are offering odds of only 4/7 on the stadium still being named St James’s Park at the commencement of the season next year. Meanwhile, their favourites are Tesco at 16/1, Northern Rock at 20/1, and Mike Ashley’s own company, Sports Direct as third favourite at 25/1. Ladbrokes have their favourite, Adidas, at a mere 2/1, with Carling and O2 slotting in behind at 4/1 and 7/1 respectively. Time will tell but one things for sure, there will be a yet another right old kerfuffle if this plan ever looks like it is seriously going to happen.
NUFCBlog Author: workyticket
workyticket has written 1091 articles on this blog.
I just cant believe we are that desperate for a few quid in Ma’s terms, that this needs to be down unless it was a just a cheap dig the same as the “I put more money in” dig. But if it does go ahead I think it will be The Sports Direct Arena, Lonsdale Park or just Fat Mikes Casino ;)