Everton owners The Friedkin Group face a major decision as they are searching the market to secure naming rights for the new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock. Capable of seating 52,888 spectators, it has been known as Everton Stadium so far and the club will move to the ground at the beginning of the 2025/26 season.
The stadium cost £800m to make but the club’s new owners have agreed to a refinancing deal with JP Morgan which will save the club tens of millions of pounds a year in debt repayments.
A key sponsorship asset that Everton have at their disposal is the stadium’s naming rights. While they are far from agreeing on a deal, the club is expected to move forward with this line of business given their involvement in the Premier League is all but assured for next season.
“The most important thing is that the club gets this right,” said Daniel Haddad, head of commercial strategy at global sports and entertainment agency Octagon.
“The biggest equity in the naming rights comes at this stage. The ownership situation that had rumbled on had made it hard to get a deal over the last six, nine, 12 months. The confidence of potential partners would have been affected by what had been going on, and the bigger problem was probably off the pitch than on it in terms of what the value would have been. That has been sorted now, and leadership changes are being made.”
The Blues had partnered with US-based firm Elevate Sports Ventures three years ago to look for commercial opportunities in the market. Given Everton’s recent financial struggles and sustainability issues, settling on the price for the naming rights is expected to be a major decision for the owners. As far as the length of a possible deal is in question, the owners have the 10-year mark in mind to ensure the club’s long-term financial stability.
“In an ideal world, Everton would have a partner in place for August. If you look at the stadium naming rights situation at Spurs then the issue has always been the price point and what they want to get against what the market is prepared to pay. Everton aren’t holding out for £20million per year, so they will have options,” Haddad added.
Elevate Sports Ventures have been very active in the US market. They were involved in landing a 10-year deal for MLS side San Jose Earthquakes for their stadium to be called PayPal Park. Pittsburgh Steelers also secured a new stadium naming rights deal with financial technology firm Acrisure. The deal, in place for 15 years, will see the Steelers earn $20m per year (£15.5m).
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer ()
Posted 11/03/2025 at 13:10:30
I like the Everton Stadium.
How to get rid of these ads and support TW
© ToffeeWeb