Five years on from opening night, the Premier League’s most impressive arena is still rather clunkily called the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The absence of a naming rights deal is arguably the only element of the move to the new ground that has not gone to plan. From a business perspective, at least.
The stadium has been transformative for Spurs financially, with both matchday and commercial income up by almost 300 per cent from the final season at White Hart Lane.
Infographic sowing the matchday incomes plus stadium capacities and planned upgrades in the Premier League, featuring Newcastle United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Leeds United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Everton
But for some fans, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is a symptom of an ownership regime who prioritise commercial growth over the traditional metric of success for a football club: success on the pitch.
Spurs suffered what is already their sixth Premier League defeat this season at Bournemouth last night, with Ange Postecoglou confronting a traveling fan who made their frustrations clear at full time.
They are without a trophy since 2008.
The riposte from Daniel Levy and his peers in the Spurs boardroom is that increasing operating revenue will facilitate greater expenditure on recruitment and retention and, eventually. silverware.
There is no denying that the North London club’s spending has increased markedly since 2019, but the gap between their squad cost (wages plus amortisation) and revenue is widening.
Chart showing Tottenham Hotspur's squad cost (wages + amortisation) against revenue
One of the reasons that Spurs are courting fresh minority investment is, according to Levy, to fund investment in the playing squad, as well as capital expenditure projects.
To any prospective buyer, the stadium is the club’s biggest asset.
The project came in at around £1bn all told, with Spurs accessing a combination of private finance and bank loans, as well as a modest government grant, to fund its construction.
The NFL, whose annual London Games series is now a fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, also £10m towards the costs.
General view outside the stadium prior to the NFL match between New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 06, 202...
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
That deal was a clear signal of intent from Spurs, whose commercial acumen cannot be doubted even if some of the football decisions they have made in recent years have been less successful.
As well as the NFL deal, the club have a 15-year partnership with Formula One that has seen a karting track installed at the stadium. It has also become one of the go-to venues for combat sports.
Then, of course, there are the big-name concerts. Beyonce, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Lady Gaga are among the A-listers to have performed in N17.
Levy has said that one of the reasons that they are yet to sign a naming rights deal is because Spurs are enjoying the benefits of having the club name directly associated with these events.
But the mood music in North London is that the club are still actively searching for the right deal.
Tottenham still in market for stadium naming rights deal
Initially, Tottenham were believed to be looking for around £200m over a minimum 10-year deal for their naming rights.
In the naming rights market, the received wisdom is that non-virgin rights (AKA the license for a stadium that has previously gone by another name) are worth considerably less.
The consensus within the football finance industry was that the value of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as it has been called for five years, has dwindled significantly.
Infographic explaining the value of naming rights in football, for stadiums, training grounds and more
But TBR Football understands that the market has been galvanised by Allianz’s deal with England Rugby’s Twickenham Stadium and Riyadh Air’s with Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano.
Those deals, worth around £10m and £25m per year respectively, were both for non-virgin naming rights.
Significantly, although Spurs gave evidence against them, Man City’s recent challenge to the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction rules has opened access to the league-wider commercial database.
That means they can now see the values of Emirates, Amex, Etihad’s stadium naming rights, giving them more ammunition to extract maximum value from a prospective deal.
An aerial view of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ahead of the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadiu...
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Previously, TBR has been told that Spurs have held talks with Amazon and Google, although that was now over a year ago and the outcome of those talks is not known.
More recently, Spurs have spoken to DHL, the German logistics company, about a naming rights deal.
Another potential lever for Tottenham in negotiations is that they now have a license to host up to 30 non-football events per year at the stadium, up from 16.
They will also host matches Euro 2028.
UEFA insist on clean, unbranded stadia for their competitions. But FIFA’s decision to allow branded stadiums for the Club World Cup may suggest which way the wind is blowing in this department.
New chief commercial officer could seal huge deal for Tottenham
When Todd Kline, Spurs’ former chief commercial officer, joined Tottenham in 2021, his self-stated A1 priority was to secure a naming rights deal for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
He failed in that endeavour and, in a move that was greeted with the most cursory of statements from Spurs, has now quit for Chelsea.
That was back in February, but Kline has been on gardening leave since then, only beginning his role in October.
Spurs are yet to name a new chief commercial officer but, as football finance expert and industry insider Kieran Maguire forecasted to TBR earlier this year, have had someone working in the role privately.
General view inside the stadium prior to during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur FC and Everton FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium o...
Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images
Documents seen by TBR show that Spurs new chief commercial officer was listed among the attendees at Leaders’ Week, the sports business industry’s biggest conference, in October.
Their principle task, like Kline’s before them, will be to find a naming rights deal that is both lucrative and aligns with the club’s branding strategy.
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