Finance guru: ‘Money is no object’ to Newcastle United as £200m deal on the cards
Money is “no object” to the Newcastle United owners – but the Premier League’s fair value committee will likely limit them to pumping £20million into the club per year for stadium naming rights.
That is the view of finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about recent remarks made by Magpies CEO Darren Eales.
As quoted by The i last Wednesday (12 October), Eales revealed that Newcastle plan to make use of companies linked to their Saudi patrons in order to expand their commercial income.
This has already been illustrated through the club’s sleeve sponsorship deal with Noon.com, an e-commerce platform part-owned by PIF.
Eales also disclosed that the club is considering a naming rights deal for St. James’ Park in order to boost their revenue and thereby grant them more wiggle room under Financial Fair Play.
Plumley suggested that the Tynesiders could earn as much as £200m over the course of a 10-year deal.
“I think this will come down to two things,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“Historically, we’re looking at deals that have been done before. The other thing is the background of the Premier League taking a closer look at deals and seeing if they constitute fair value. that links to the ownership at Newcastle, as we know.
“As a result of that, it won’t be outrageously high because they will have to play the game a little bit.
“The benchmark was the £40m-a-year City deal with Etihad. But if we look lower than that, some of the figures that are doing the rounds with Everton and Tottenham are around £20m.
“We know money is no object to them and if there were no regulations then a naming rights deal could be worth anything. But they have to fall in line with regulations.
“The other interesting thing is we have to look at the history of that stadium’s name. We know people refer to it as St James’ Park, whereas with Spurs and Everton, those are brand new stadiums. The naming rights become more attractive with new stadiums.
“So there is plenty to go off there, but I think around the £20m figure is what we’re looking at.“
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