Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Sunderland
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
What ‘senior figures’ are now saying about £65m Newcastle United sponsor deal as PSR issue emerges
Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) have so far anchored PIF’s ambitions at Newcastle, but the outcome of Man City’s recent arbitration case could be a game-changer.
With the backing of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Newcastle were one of a handful of club’s to give evidence in favour of Man City in their challenge to the league’s associated party transaction (APT) rules.
That is no surprise. After all, the APT rules – which govern commercial deals between clubs and businesses with links to their owners – were introduced in the immediate aftermath of PIF‘s takeover in 2021.
The Premier League and its member clubs who voted in the APT rules insist the timing was coincidental, but commentators, analysts, and rival dissenting clubs have scoffed at that position.
There is a fundamental debate over whether City’s challenge to the APT rules, which they deem anti-competitive, has succeeded. However, the consensus is that they will be the happier of the two parties.
Either way, the outcome has sparked a civil war behind the scenes and left the league at crossroads.
The rules will have to be at least partially rewritten, with potential implications that are further reaching than the ruling on a relatively narrow piece of Premier League legislation suggests.
Newcastle will be particularly invested in the wrangling at Premier League HQ given their desperation to increase commercial income in order to carve out more flexibility to spend PIF’s money under PSR.
And a fresh development suggests which way the wind is blowing.
- READ MORE: What Newcastle sources think Alexander Isak will do as ‘issues’ arise during contract talks
Newcastle’s APT deals
Since PIF’s takeover, Newcastle have struck several commercial deals with PIF-owned or PIF-linked companies.
As well as more junior partnerships with the likes of Saudia, the two most prominent APTs in Newcastle’s sponsorship inventory are their front-of-shirt and sleeve deals with Sela and Noon.
Over the next two years – the period over which the contracts are guaranteed to run – Sela will pay Newcastle £50m and Noon £15m, meaning the APTs are worth £65m in total to the club.
With the margins very tight in terms of PSR, these partnerships could be make or break come the end of the season, with the Premier League keen to prove they can self-regulate.
However, The are reporting that ‘senior figures’ in the Premier League are now questioning the basis of APTs entirely given that they are effectively a form of subsidy akin to equity.
As the article points out, this is ‘is all the more relevant when it comes to state ownership [Newcastle’s model], given that all such money comes from the same pot.’
If APTs were outlawed entirely, unlikely as this is given recent developments, it would be a massive blow for Newcastle’s PSR masterplan.
PSR and APT: What next for Newcastle?
Despite the unprecedented dominance of Man City, this era of the Premier League may be remembered more as the era of litigation than it is for what has happened on the pitch.
While it will have no direct bearing on Newcastle, the outcome of the 115 charges case will also have huge collateral effects on them in terms of the attitudes towards state ownership and spending rules.
The APT case has reinforced the fact that it is important not to take anything for granted when it comes to football governance, but the case will be seismic whatever the final ruling.
As an existential issue for the Premier League, it is not difficult to imagine a scenario where the PSR system itself would be threatened by a City victory, which naturally would be succour for Newcastle.