City flying high with stadium naming deal
Source: Agencies |
July 9, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MANCHESTER City announced a hugely lucrative naming rights deal with Etihad Airways yesterday which will see its City of Manchester Stadium immediately renamed the Etihad Stadium.
At a news conference at the arena, the club also unveiled its own team jet, an Airbus A-330 in the team's sky blue colors with its name and badge emblazoned on the sides.
The deal, according to widespread British media reports, is worth a reported 150 million pounds (US$241 million) spread over the next 10 years, and will give the club a major revenue boost, allowing it to comply with UEFA's new financial fair play rules which come into effect for the 2013-14 season.
UEFA though, is likely to examine the deal because under the new regulations clubs are not allowed to spend more than they earn. If UEFA feels the sponsorship deal has been inflated to give income levels an artificial boost, then it could take action.
The estimated worth of the deal trumps the previous British record naming rights deal secured by Arsenal, which struck a 15-year agreement worth 100 million pounds with Emirates Airways in 2006.
Etihad, City's major sponsor, is the national airline of Abu Dhabi and the deal reflects the links with the club's wealthy owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan.
City is already regarded as the world's richest club because of Sheikh Mansour's wealth, estimated at some US$1.0 trillion.
Anfield move
Meanwhile, Liverpool's principal owner has acknowledged that the English Premier League club may have to leave Anfield for a new stadium.
John Henry's Fenway Sports Group has been considering stadium options since buying the club in October.
Responding to a fan urging him to keep Liverpool at its home of 119 years, Henry said on Twitter that a move may be inevitable. "Anfield would certainly be our first choice. But realities may dictate otherwise. So many obstacles," he wrote.
Situated in a working-class neighborhood, Anfield is hemmed in by terraced residential housing, making any expansion extremely difficult and costly. The alternative is to build a new ground in nearby Stanley Park, which separates Anfield from Everton's Goodison Park stadium. At 76,000, Old Trafford is the largest stadium in the Premier League.
At a news conference at the arena, the club also unveiled its own team jet, an Airbus A-330 in the team's sky blue colors with its name and badge emblazoned on the sides.
The deal, according to widespread British media reports, is worth a reported 150 million pounds (US$241 million) spread over the next 10 years, and will give the club a major revenue boost, allowing it to comply with UEFA's new financial fair play rules which come into effect for the 2013-14 season.
UEFA though, is likely to examine the deal because under the new regulations clubs are not allowed to spend more than they earn. If UEFA feels the sponsorship deal has been inflated to give income levels an artificial boost, then it could take action.
The estimated worth of the deal trumps the previous British record naming rights deal secured by Arsenal, which struck a 15-year agreement worth 100 million pounds with Emirates Airways in 2006.
Etihad, City's major sponsor, is the national airline of Abu Dhabi and the deal reflects the links with the club's wealthy owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan.
City is already regarded as the world's richest club because of Sheikh Mansour's wealth, estimated at some US$1.0 trillion.
Anfield move
Meanwhile, Liverpool's principal owner has acknowledged that the English Premier League club may have to leave Anfield for a new stadium.
John Henry's Fenway Sports Group has been considering stadium options since buying the club in October.
Responding to a fan urging him to keep Liverpool at its home of 119 years, Henry said on Twitter that a move may be inevitable. "Anfield would certainly be our first choice. But realities may dictate otherwise. So many obstacles," he wrote.
Situated in a working-class neighborhood, Anfield is hemmed in by terraced residential housing, making any expansion extremely difficult and costly. The alternative is to build a new ground in nearby Stanley Park, which separates Anfield from Everton's Goodison Park stadium. At 76,000, Old Trafford is the largest stadium in the Premier League.
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