Kieran Maguire issues ‘£29m’ reveal as Newcastle United agree two more deals
Newcastle United will continue to make use of their owners’ business connections when it comes to signing new sponsorship deals.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the latest endeavours of the Magpies’ commercial team.
Newcastle announced two new commercial deals with PIF-linked businesses this week, with esports firm VOV and telecommunications brand stc both signing up to sponsor the current training camp in Saudi Arabia.
The Tynesiders have signed seven sponsorship deals in total since the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s controversial £305million buyout in October last year.
As revealed by Football Insider on Thursday (8 December), four of those deals are likely classified by the Premier League as with an ‘associated party’, i.e a company with whom the owners either own or have close corporate links.
Maguire forecasts that Newcastle, who beat Saudi side Al-Hilal 5-0 in a friendly on Thursday, will continue to exploit their owners’ portfolio.
“I think we can expect to see a substantial number of sponsorship and commercial deals between Newcastle and Middle Eastern companies,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“There are perfectly rational reasons why those companies might also be linked to PIF. It would be easier and quicker to get deals signed at both ends.
“Therefore, Newcastle can start to increase their commercial revenue. That has very much been a bugbear for Newcastle fans under the tenure of Mike Ashley.
“If we look at the numbers for Newcastle in 2008, Newcastle had a commercial income of £26m. By 2020, that had only increased to £29m.
“That is a pretty slow and small return. It is substantially less than the club’s peer group.“
In other news, Leicester City tell Newcastle United what it will cost to sign James Maddison in January.