Finance guru: Tottenham are plotting ‘big pay-off’ as historic £500m naming-rights deal on the cards
Tottenham are “holding back” on a stadium naming rights deal with a view to extracting maximum cash through a future NFL link-up.
That is the view of finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about Spurs’ masterplan for their 63,000-seater home.
The Daily Mail reported last Saturday (12 February) that Spurs are marketing the industry-leading arena as the “Home of the NFL in Europe”.
It is understood that the club, who have a £40million contract to stage two NFL matches per year, are lining up a bid to host the Super Bowl after 2026.
This site revealed in February last year that Spurs are holding out for a £25m-a-year naming rights partnership spread out over 10 to 20 years.
That would mean Spurs could pocket up to £500m in a world-first deal.
And Plumley claims that a “big payoff” could be on the horizon.
“The stadium naming rights deal hasn’t been done yet,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“They still refer to it as ‘The Stadium’. That is part of the reason they have been holding back. They don’t want a name to stick before they sign a deal.
“Looking wider at this with the NFL stuff, they have got the retractable pitch ready to play American football.
“They have also got the deal for two games per season. It has always been mooted that if there was a London NFL franchise, Spurs would be the hosts.
“So they have had this plan deliberately in place for some time. There will be a big payoff if some of these things come off.
“Yes, the Super Bowl has a majority American audience but it’s still one of the biggest sporting events on the planet.
“It’s all about revenue diversification. As clubs come out of the pandemic, they are looking to diversify.
“The stadium is the biggest asset a club has but you only use it 20 to 25 times per season, so they are looking to expand on that revenue stream.”
Spurs’ stadium opened its doors in April 2019.
The club have racked up a debt bill of over £700m in construction costs.
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