The Toffees are close to agreeing record sponsorship deals with major recognised brands thanks to business savvy owners and a transformative new stadium
It is the behind-the-scenes battle that most Everton fans probably don’t know is taking place.
While David Moyes is targeting Europe in the first season of a new era, off the field the club is scrambling to secure a marquee sponsor to replace online casino Stake.
The rush follows new Premier League legislation banning gambling companies from front-of-shirt sponsorships, leaving about half of the top flight seeking new deals.
But the good news for Everton is that it coincides with an off-field revolution that they believe will fast-track their ambition to compete for trophies.
Thanks to the Friedkins’ commercial savvy and a transformative new stadium, the club is in advanced negotiations with major brands willing to pay record fees. A deal is understood to be close.
The Hill Dickinson Stadium, located at Bramley-Moore Dock, cost around £750m to build (Photo: Getty)
“You talk about the transformation of the football club, we’re seeing it with the brands that are taking conversations with us,” Everton’s chief partnerships officer Mark Rollings tells The i Paper.
“I believe we’ve got one of the best stories in the Premier League. You’re buying the next three, four, five years and imagine the journey you’re going to go on with this new stadium.
“That’s really cut through in the market and we’ve been able to have conversations with brands that honestly, I don’t think we’d have been able to previously before the Friedkins took over and we moved to the new stadium.”
All of this stuff matters because revenue is king for ambitious clubs in the coming years.
New financial fair play rules coming into force next season will allow clubs to spend up to 85 per cent of their revenue on “squad costs” – a catch-all term that includes transfer fees, player wages and agent fees.
Owners Dan Friedkin and his son Ryan are heavily involved in all aspects of the business (Photo: Getty)
That is a step change from profitability and sustainability rules, which dealt with profit and loss, and the change is viewed internally as a good thing for Everton.
This is largely down to the way the Friedkins – who have become personally involved in efforts to drive new partnerships for Everton – are now running the club.
“I can’t overplay the significance of the Friedkins,” Rollings says.
“What they’ve brought is clear strategic direction, vision, alignment, clarity and they’ve given us stability.
“The club hasn’t been a stable asset. It’s not a glamorous term but it’s really important when we’re talking about brands making a long-term commitment to the club.
“The way I talk about the Friedkins is they’re an ownership group founded on partnerships. Generations ago the partnership they struck with Toyota is the basis of what they have built.
“Our opportunity isn’t just Everton and the stadium, it’s also to be part of this massively connected, hugely impressive ownership group.”
What does all this mean for transfers? The Friedkins’ view is clear: every single penny banked through new sponsors will be invested back into the club.
Last summer the owners were still finding their feet but spent just over £100m on incomings.
With amortisation of transfers and vastly improved revenue streams taken into account, there is potentially scope to spend double that.
The i Paper understands next month’s accounts will include record commercial revenue figures.
Rollings says the Hill Dickinson Stadium has been a game-changer.
“It was a chance for us to reset what we stood for as a football club, a brand platform, reset commercially, reset the fees and investment we could command,” he explains.
A smart decision to create a family of founding partners for the Hill Dickinson Stadium – with companies like Pepsi and Budweiser partnering with Everton – has paid off and another tie-in with another multi-billion firm is to be announced within weeks.
There have been other benefits, too. The stadium is building a reputation as a new “go to” venue across multiple sports, with England rugby union and Lionesses World Cup qualifiers announced this week.
There are also ambitions to bring a major European club final – realistically the Europa League or Conference League – to the new venue.
Every revenue stream is being looked at. Everton want a training ground sponsor and the Friedkins are encouraging the club to tap not just the US market but also the Middle East, Oceania and Apec (Asia-Pacific) regions.
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“We’ve really only just scratched the surface,” Rollings says.
“The stadium is the launchpad for the club competing at the top end of the league and being really competitive again – I’m convinced by it.”