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Tottenham naming rights update as ‘catastrophic’ claim issued in Daniel Levy’s hunt for £200m deal
In April, Tottenham will mark the sixth anniversary of the opening Daniel Levy’s magnum opus, the club’s world-class 62,850-seater stadium – but his masterpiece still doesn’t have a name.
Still clunkily referred to by the club as the ‘Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’, the venue is arguably one of the most attractive naming rights properties in world sport.
Daniel Levy, Spurs’ omniscient and chairman and co-owner, has previously confirmed that the North Londoners have explored a brand deal for the venue.
However, under-fire Levy has not spoken publicly about naming rights since the club’s annual fan forum event in September 2023.
Todd Kline – Spurs’ former chief commercial officer who left to join Chelsea in February last year – has more recently said that his main brief was to get the right naming rights deal for the club.
Some analysts have argued that the value of the rights may have dwindled after almost six years, with Tottenham believed to be looking for £20-25m per annually.
But a flurry of recent naming rights deals – such as Riyadh Air paying Atletico Madrid £25m per year or Allianz’ £10m-a-year deal with Twickenham Stadium – has breathed new life into the market.
Ask anyone in the world of football finance about naming rights, however and they will tell you that it is not just about getting the right deal, not just the biggest deal.
It was reported in 2022 that Spurs held talks with Google, while TBR Football has previously been told that Amazon, Uber, FedEx and DHL have all been contenders at some stage.
The industry mood music meanwhile is that Spurs hope to have a deal in place by the end of the 2024-25, although whether Ange Postecoglou’s side’s output on the pitch has altered the timeline isn’t known.
That said, Tottenham’s commercial performance has trended up and to the right regardless of where in the Premier League the club have finished in recent seasons.
Contrary to popular belief, their spending has increased with revenue in that time, although the gap between the two metrics is widening and Spurs still have the league’s lowest wages-to-turnover ratio.
Many fans argue that Spurs’ financial resilience is actually a symptom of their fixation with all things commercial and a reflection of the owners’ view of the club as little more than a bundle of IP to market products and experiences.
But with Levy and ENIC committed to the self-funding model, the brutal reality is that the budget given to Ange Postecoglou and sporting director Johan Lange is heavily dependent on commercial income.
A naming rights deal could, in theory, supercharge that budget. And in recent days, there has been an update in this department for the first time in a while
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Naming rights misstep would be ‘catastrophic’ for Tottenham
Even without a £200-250m naming rights deal, only the two Manchester clubs and Liverpool generate more commercial income than Spurs in the Premier League.
Levy has also said that the brand benefits of having Spurs’ name above the door as the likes of Beyonce, the NFL and Formula 1 stage events at the stadium means they are in no hurry to secure a deal.
Now, in a glowing analysis of Tottenham’s commercial performance in 2024-25, industry publication has said that embarking on a bad partnership would be “catastrophic” for the club.
Significantly, the article was shared by several senior member of Spurs’ commercial team on LinkedIn, suggesting they agree with the sentiments expressed.
‘With premium hospitality, high matchday spending, and state-of-the-art digital signage, the stadium provides brands with one of the most immersive sponsorship platforms in the Premier League,’ reads an excerpt.
“There is no pressure to sell the naming rights, and the impact of doing a bad first deal would be catastrophic,” added Dan Haddad, head of commercial strategy at Octagon.
“Spurs can develop and monetise its stadium footprint on the US model with fan zones and plazas over the next five years […] and continue to release new assets to market.”
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Daniel Levy’s competition in Spurs naming rights auction as Premier League rivals seek deal
The naming rights market is saturated at present, with Everton and West Ham also looking for deals and Man United likely to enter the fray too.
A risk-reward analysis might conclude that, given that Everton and West Ham’s rights would likely come cheaper, they might be a more cost-efficient alternative to Spurs.
From a brand’s perspective meanwhile, United are the real big-ticket item.
However, Spurs have been granted license to increase the number of non-football events they can hold at the stadium from 16 to 30, which could theoretically significantly enhance the value of their rights.
With the NFL deepening its relationship with Tottenham, there is a good chance that we will see even more American football – the world’s most commercial lucrative sport – at the ground in future years too.
With Daniel Levy still looking for fresh investment, a new minority equity partner may well want a say in what would be a seismic statement about the club’s commercial direction.
Patience, therefore, will likely be the watchword in N17 for a little while yet.