The new owners of Liverpool, Fenway Sports Group, have said that they are seeking partners for stadium naming rights, should the club move to a new football stadium away from Anfield. Of course, this commercial incentive is not new in football but are we letting a tradition in football gradually fall out of the game?
Fortunately for Reds fans, the stadium name will only be re-branded if they are to move away from the famous Anfield stadium, one of the most famous homes of football in the World, not just England. However, it is worrying that new stadiums inherit these commercially sponsored stadium names that could see grounds like Anfield, Old Trafford, White Hart Lane and Stamford Bridge become a thing of the past.
New stadiums in the last decade like Arsenal’s The Emirates, Wigan’s JJB Stadium (And now DW Stadium), Bolton’s Reebok Stadium and Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium – have all taken the sponsorship stadium name route. Economically, it makes sense as these clubs are simply increasing revenue for the club to be successful and a new stadium allows clubs to break traditions.
However, Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley caused a stir last season when he announced that St James’ Park would officially be called the SportsDirect.com Stadium. Again, advertisement in the stadium name increases revenue rather than the traditional names but what will football look like in this country in ten years time?
You could be going to Manchester United’s Twitter Arena, Chelsea’s Stadium of Harrods or what about the Carlsberg Dome for Liverpool? Slightly tongue-in-cheek, but we could be going down this route that’s very common in American sports.
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However, if Liverpool are to compete with the best clubs in the country and on the European stage then they need to be a commercial success off the pitch. Arsenal’s deal with the Emirates airline saw them earn £100 million over 15 years including 8 years as shirt sponsors.
Coventry City’s stadium the Ricoh Arena, will host the football for the 2012 Olympic games but because of Olympic rules, the name will be changed to City of Coventry Stadium during the event. Perhaps, despite the stadium name rights that will come and go over the years like shirt sponsorships, fans will identify the stadium with the football club and not business name.
While clubs in England will be looking for profit in changing the stadium names, one team in America – Sporting KC – have named their new $200 million dollar stadium after charity. The Major League Soccer team (formerly known as Kansas City Wizards) have named their stadium Livestrong Sporting Park.
It’s a great idea that will profit the charity whilst also profiting the club due to famous cyclist Lance Armstrong being behind the deal. The club expect him to attract a number of famous celebrities to the stadium, including performers that will see Sporting KC still profit.
Perhaps if teams in England are to continue the new tradition of commercialising stadium names, they should look into charities. I am sure fans would not have a problem with stadium name changes if there a good cause being benefited and not just the boardroom of the clubs.
The article was written by Matt G-Freebody for FootballFancast.com. Make sure to check out the latest news, blogs and podcasts at FFC – ed.
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but there are other ways to generate money without having to sell
name, if they see matches of Inter, Acer buy almost everything
available ad space on screens in the stadium and
teams with stadiums with retractable roof (like a sports car) show
auspices to be viewed from the sky, so in the arsenal stadium, FLY EMIRATES put billboards on the outside of the stands.
if implemented other types of advertising do not see the need
imperative to sell the name