 |
| Play poker at 888poker! |
Tomorrow I get to see my two favourite clubs play at Old Trafford, Manchester United and Newcastle United. After losing their unbeaten record last weekend at Manchester City, it looks more than likely that the Geordies will double their loss tally for the season on their return to Manchester…
During the next 3 fixtures the side will probably pick up no points and start to slip down the table, but had you have asked the Newcastle fans at the start of the season how they would get on, I’m sure many would have said avoiding relegation would have been the expectation. Instead, after a third of the season gone Newcastle are sitting in lofty position of 4th albeit maybe not for much longer.
The problem here is that I’m sure that most Newcastle fans will blame Mike Ashley if they finish anywhere outside of the Europa League places, thanks to expectations being raised by fantastic start to the season.
Why? Because I am sure they will argue that renaming the stadium destabilised the club.
The simple fact of the matter is, it is another step towards making the club no longer run at a loss which is essential.
With wealthy benefactors like Abramovich at Chelsea and Sheikh Mansour at City, wages have continued to spiral out of control in the past decade in football. In the 09/10 season Newcastle were putting 90% of their turnover towards the wage bill which is not healthy for any business, which should ideally be aiming for 45-50%. Coupled with the fact that Mike Ashley has had to pump £140 million just to keep the club afloat since his purchase, it is no wonder he is trying to find ways of sorting out the club financially.
Clubs tend to break down their revenue into 3 sections; Matchday income, TV income and Commercial income.
It would be impossible for Mike to charge the fans more given the gloomy global financial situation and the fact that there is on average 5,500 empty seats at St James’ every match day, so that is not an avenue to be exploited.
TV money wise, Newcastle United will be making more money year on year with improvements made with Premier League TV deals but this isn’t something Ashley can affect. This leaves just the commercial side of things.
The commercial side is where Mike Ashley can affect things. The current sponsor on their football shirts – Northern Rock, has chosen to end their deal with the club meaning that this is up for grabs. The reason for the renaming of the football stadium is to maximise shirt sponsor income by offering the two together in a deal similar to Arsenal’s with Emirates airlines. To showcase this opportunity Mike has put his own company, admittedly at no cost to himself (as he’s not allowed to) across the stadium to entice potential sponsors.
Many Newcastle fans rightly or wrongly refuse to acknowledge the name – the Sport Direct Arena, and say they will always call it St James’ Park, which they are fully entitled to do. But they must bear in mind this is the way all football clubs are going. Even Liverpool’s owners have talked about selling the naming rights to Anfield and Chelsea are looking into the same at Stamford Bridge. The aim of the game is to now squeeze every last penny commercially, otherwise it will have to be out of the fans in order for the club to keep apace. The famously holier-than-thou Barcelona shirt now sports a sponsor, albeit via Qatari royal family money masquerading as a charity.
Either way Mike Ashley is doing what is necessary to allow the club to stop making losses and once the club is an attractive prospect for another investor he will sell up. I predict many Geordies will blame the renaming if their season doesn’t meet their now high expectations, but whilst in the short-term they have to put up with big Sports Direct banners adorn their stadium, in the long term it will mean a brighter financial future that will set the club up in good stead.
A step too far? I don’t think so, it’s just the way the game is going on a whole. Renaming the stadium is in the best interests of the club and the fans can always just keep calling it St James’ anyway…
Related posts:
