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‘JP Morgan Stadium’ and four more £200m options as Everton receive multiple naming rights bids
With all-American billionaire Dan Friedkin installed as Everton’s new owner, there is now a little enclave of Texas on Merseyside. What might this mean for Bramley Moore Dock’s naming rights?
Stadium naming rights are a thoroughly American phenomenon, as is the case with most commercial innovations in sport.
While Everton and indeed most European football clubs have mainly stuck with historic, often quaint names for their stadia, their US counterparts have monetised their spiritual homes to great effect.
As Liverpool University football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire told TBR Football earlier this year: “With naming rights, there is a difference in culture between the US and the UK.
“Fans in the US have more attachment to naming rights and there’s therefore more value. Because there’s no front-of-shirt sponsorship in the NFL and NBA, the first thing you associate with teams is the naming rights.“
There has been something of a sea change in the 21st century, however. See: ‘Emirates Stadium’, ‘The Etihad’, ‘The Amex’ and others. The Premier League is cottoning on to the value of naming rights.
Everton are looking for a brand deal for Bramley Moore Dock and have appointed the agency Elevate Sports to oversee the search, which has now been ongoing for several years.
Elevate – who, in an interesting detail, are co-owned by Arctos, an investor in Liverpool’s paymasters FSG – are confident of securing a £100-200m deal over 10-years. Industry experts consulted by TBR agree.
The baseline value of the deal will not be the only thing considered by Dan Friedkin’s commercial lieutenants, however.
A stadium should be a club’s soul and any deal will need to correspond with Everton’s values, as well as their wider commercial aims.
The Toffees market themselves as ‘The People’s Club’ and their motto, ‘nils satis nisi optimum’, demands ‘nothing but the best’.
Recently, there has been little in the way of fresh reporting on the specifics of any would-be naming rights. But a handful of companies stand out as potential partners for Everton.
Who will sponsor Everton’s new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock?
The received wisdom in football’s commercial sphere is that it is vital to have a naming rights deal in place before the official opening of a new stadium.
If not, there is a law of diminishing returns, with sponsors less keen to associate their brand with a ground where they were not a headline feature of the ribbon cutting ceremony.
With the first two test events at Bramley Moore Dock now in the diary, an announcement could therefore be imminent.
Chief commercial officer Richard Kenyon has confirmed Everton have fielded multiple naming rights bids and that a 10-year-plus deal is likely.
Here, TBR takes a look at the potential identities of those who may have made a proposal, based on reports and whispers in the football finance community.
Imperative Entertainment: Dan Friedkin’s passion project
Granted, the ‘Imperative Entertainment Stadium’ doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but the California-based studio is Dan Friedkin’s pride and joy. There could be an angle for a naming rights deal here.
If not a straight naming rights, deal there is certainly scope for Everton to collaborate commercially with Imperative, who produced Martin Scorsese’s 2023 Killers of the Flower moon among other blockbusters.
The worlds of media and football often collide. Just ask Tottenham fans, whose stadium was cynically used as a marketing vehicle for Netflix’s Squid Game in the 6-3 defeat to Liverpool two Sundays ago.
That is the kind of bombastic commercialism that the Toffees surely want to avoid as they move into their new home, but a more subtle approach might be more palatable to Everton fans.
The ‘Toyota Bramley Moore Stadium’?
Friedkin is originally from California, but Texas is his adopted home thanks to his hugely lucrative deal for the exclusive rights to distribute Toyota vehicles in the state, as well as a handful of others in south USA.
It has been reliably reported that the connection between Everton and Toyota could yield a naming rights deal. In theory, at least.
What’s more, the Japanese car manufacturer are absolutely prolific in the naming rights business. Around 20 stadiums worldwide sport the ‘Toyota’ brand.
Qatar Airways: The Farhad Moshiri connection
Qatar Airways are one of the only names to have been specifically namechecked in relation to a potential naming rights deal for Bramley Moore Dock.
Although, that was some time ago. Now-former owner Farhad Moshiri is said to have held talks with Qatar Airways at the World Cup in the Gulf state in 2022.
There are a number of reasons why this might work, however.
TBR understands Qatar are keen to have a major presence in the naming rights space amid increasing competition from the likes of Etihad, Riyadh Air and Emirates, all fellow flag carriers for rival Gulf states.
Furthermore, Qatar Airways will be the principle sponsor for Euro 2028, where Bramley Moore Dock will stage matches.
An amplified presence at the tournament through a naming rights deal would be another brand exposure boost for them.
On the other hand, The Friedkin Group do have previous Qatar Airways – and not in a positive sense. They ditched them as AS Roma’s front-of-shirt sponsor after taking over the Serie A club in 2020.
JP Morgan – Everton’s new lender
Major global financial institutions are recognising the value of investing in football. JP Morgan, like Goldman Sachs, have opened a sports-specific division, as case in point.
Ana Dunkel, Everton’s new chief financial officer, previously held a senior position with JP Morgan, while the multinational firm has also agreed a deal with Friedkin to restructure £660m worth of Everton debt.
JP Morgan – or JPMorgan Chase & Co, to give them their full title – also have a history of naming rights deals, as well as blue-chip sponsorship deals for sports events.
Several clubs, including Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, have agreed branding deals for their stadia with the 225-year-old New York-headquartered company. Messi now plays at the ‘Chase Stadium’.
This is purely speculative, but they could theoretically be an option for a new-look Everton under Friedkin.
Alternatives for the Toffees: A tech giant, a Saudi billboard, or a naming rights regular
Friedkin was reportedly cosying up to Saudi investors with a view to selling a stake in Roma in 2024.
The 51-year-old has also inked a front-of-shirt deal for Roma with their ‘Riyadh Season’ brand and done some interesting transfer business with the Saudi Pro League.
Riyadh Air recently sponsored Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium in a record-breaking deal, signalling the Gulf state plans to go all-in on sponsorship ahead of the 2034 World Cup.
Saudi Arabia’s ownership link with Newcastle United would complicate any association with Everton, however.
TBR has previously been told that Amazon and Google are interested in the Premier League naming rights market too, although there is nothing linking them specifically to Everton at this stage.
As well as Toyota, there are a collection of companies who are routinely mentioned in naming rights conversations. Allianz, Red Bull, and various cryptocurrency companies, to list a few.
Allianz recently struck a naming rights deal with England Rugby’s Twickenham Stadium. Whether they would want to risk compromising that deal with another in the UK market is therefore an issue.
Red Bull wouldn’t work. The colour red and its negative associations for Everton aside, Red Bull co-own a potential Premier League rival in Leeds United.
That hasn’t stopped them sponsoring other Premier League clubs – including Everton themselves – but a naming rights deal would surely be too far.
A crypto deal meanwhile might be lucrative, but there are risks attached in terms of brand association.
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Everton ready to tap into £8m US market, says expert
Regardless of which company they get into bed with for naming rights, Everton will be thinking global.
Speaking exclusively to TBR, one expert pinpointed the American market as a key target for Everton, who he believes will leverage Friedkin’s network of media and entertainment to capitalise commercially.
Neil Joyce, CEO of D2C fan data and fan connection specialists , said: “The club now has wider access to content production capability through the group’s ‘Imperative Entertainment’, that will be able to take the powerful Everton FC narrative to tap into the US market.
“Storytelling is key in unlocking soccer fans in the US, bringing with it £8m-plus in annual revenue for current Everton soccer fans there.
“Our connected fan data shows that among US football fans, 83 million – 44% – are yet to choose a team, creating an opportunity for Everton to establish itself as ‘America’s next favourite club.’
“The Friedkin Group’s expertise in entertainment and sports can help Everton seize this moment. Through innovative content – like documentaries that celebrate the club’s heritage – and strategic fan engagement, Everton can emulate the success of clubs like Manchester City and Arsenal, whose imaginative use of brand and other sporting collaborations to tell stories has helped boost their global reach.
“On the ground, Everton’s new stadium could become a game-changer. Drawing on the Friedkin Group’s track record with world-class venues like AS Roma’s €1bn stadium project, Bramley Moore Dock could transcend football, hosting NFL games, Formula 1, and concerts from global megastars like Beyoncé or Taylor Swift. This has the potential to position Everton not only as a football powerhouse, but also as Liverpool’s premier event destination.
“By blending its rich football heritage with state-of-the-art facilities and bold US market strategies, Everton would appear to stand at the forefront of a new era, with the Friedkin Group poised to make the club a leader in modern football innovation.”