Finance guru Kieran Maguire believes that Newcastle fans would be receptive of a new stadium naming rights deal at St. James’ Park.
That is despite the backlash Mike Ashley received when he rebranded the ground the Sports Direct Arena back in 2011 with the original title not deemed “commercially attractive” (BBC Sport).
Steve Harmison labelled the move ‘the one (thing) people will find hardest to forgive and forget’ Ashley for doing during his reign of terror.
However, Maguire doesn’t feel that the supporters will react in a similar way should the new Saudi owners seek a stadium sponsorship.
He told Football Insider:
“Darren Eales will be targeting an eight-figure sum in terms of overall revenue per year and it’s likely to be in excess of a 10-year deal.
“There is no doubt that the Newcastle fanbase are likely to buy into a naming rights deal for St James’ Park in exactly the same way they didn’t buy into the Sports Direct Arena plans of Mike Ashley.
“They saw no benefit to the club in terms of their ability to compete in the top markets. They will be far more receptive to this under the current ownership.“
“They are well aware that the club needs to see an increase with respect to its commercial revenues in order to sign the best players.”
TIF Thoughts on Maguire’s comments…
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Club CEO Darren Eales told iNews this month that the club are likely to explore sponsor links close to the Public Investment Fund.
He stressed that the Financial Fair Play regulations mean they must boost commercial revenue and that they face different challenges to Chelsea and Manchester City when they were taken over.
The former Tottenham and Atlanta executive claims the club will “absolutely” look to make use of their connections and PIF’s portfolio.
Newcastle spent over £120m in the summer but Eales has admitted that they can’t afford to get a major transfer decision wrong due to the restrictions in place and a naming rights deal would provide them with more leverage in the market.
Whether the Toon faithful would agree to such a move is unknown but it remains to be seen whether the club can find a potential investor.