Everton told to accept £10m-a-year naming rights offer – Stefan Borson
Everton have held talks about a naming rights deal for their new stadium as they prepare to make the move away from Goodison Park ahead of next season.
The Merseyside giants are set to spend more than £800million to complete the state-of-the-art facility on Bramley-Moore Dock despite it initially being projected to cost around £500million.
Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Everton should accept a £10million-a-year deal for the naming rights instead of waiting for a £20million offer.
Everton have received stadium naming rights offers
Borson revealed Tottenham have likely missed out on around £75million worth of revenue after holding out for a larger fee for their stadium naming rights.
Everton have received offers to sponsor their new stadium as they prepare to host three test events at the facility over the coming months, with 10,000 fans set to attend an Under-18s friendly on 17 February.
Borson insisted the Merseysiders could potentially agree a better deal further down the line once the stadium is more established and they are in a stronger position on the pitch.
He told Football Insider: “People talk about naming rights deals as if they are easy to do.
“They are not easy to get the value that you want from the market unless you have got an associated party. In Europe, it’s been really difficult to get naming rights deals at £20-30million a season.
“Everton will have a choice over whether to accept £10million a season for those virgin naming rights or whether they want to hold out for more than £20million.
“Spurs have chosen the latter. I don’t know whether that’s been a good decision. They have probably missed out on five years of revenue at £10-15million, so they have probably missed out on £75million.
“But they still have the asset now for the initial partner. It’s quite a difficult call as a business.
“Personally, if I was Everton, I would probably take the £10million right now for five years.
“Give somebody five years and take a chance that, once that deal expires, you will be able to resell and the fact it’s the second naming rights partner won’t have that much of an impact because the stadium will be more established and maybe Everton will be in a better position on the field.”
Everton owners want to take US approach at new stadium
Everton are now in a stronger negotiating position after The Friedkin Group (TFG) secured its takeover of the club in December.
The Texas-based company, which is spearheaded by Dan Friedkin, also owns Gulf States Toyota, Serie A giants Roma and other entertainment and hospitality businesses.
Football Insider revealed on 5 February Everton’s owners want to take a US-style approach towards matchdays at the new stadium.
David Moyes has helped ease the club’s relegation fears in recent weeks after securing three victories in his first four Premier League games, opening up a nine-point gap on third-bottom Leicester City.
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