A general view outside of the stadiu during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Manchester United at St James' Park on March 04, 2026 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)placeholder image
A general view outside of the stadiu during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Manchester United at St James' Park on March 04, 2026 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Newcastle United’s training ground will be known as ‘The KNOX’ from July 1.
David Hopkinson has described Newcastle United’s sponsorship deal with KNOX Hydration as “game-changing”.
The South African sports drink company has entered into a three-year agreement with the Magpies that will see them rename the club’s Benton training ground to ‘The KNOX’ and be the sleeve sponsor on the men's, women's, and academy’s training wear.
Worth a total of £18million, as first reported by The Athletic, the partnership officially begins on July 1. It represents a major boost to United’s commercial revenues, which are already up 44% from June 2024 to June 2025.
With the Premier League’s Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) rules coming into play this summer, plus the continued threat of UEFA’s financial rules, Hopkinson says deals like KNOX give the club scope to bolster Eddie Howe’s first-team squad.
Newcastle United secure ‘game-changing’ sponsorship deal
“KNOX is the type of company that we aspire to partner with, a company with our shared values, ambition, and commitment to quality product,” said Hopkinson. “The partnership between two organisations is never just about two brands, it’s about the people that work at those brands.
“At KNOX, we see people who share our values, it’s high energy, high dedication, high conviction that want to win on a global stage and we are hungry to support them and they are hungry to support us.
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“They understand what Newcastle United means to Newcastle. Having spent time with these people at KNOX, they understand how much we care about this community. I have every belief this is going to be a partnership we’re all going to be proud of.
“We live in a world where we can invest in our squad is a function of how much revenue we can generate. Those are the rules for all of us, and we respect those rules, so deals like this are frankly game-changing.
“This does give us the ability to improve our squad, as does the maximisation of all our commercial opportunities. We’re thrilled about it; more will come.”
Reflecting on the partnership, KNOX Hydration CEO John Schaefer said: “The training ground will be called The KNOX, which is perfect because we think about training and performance and this is where we come into play.
"We don’t just want to be a name on the wall, we want to impact the fans, the team and club positively."
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