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Everton explore Bramley Moore Dock deal with £2bn firm as Dan Friedkin sets stadium naming rights deadline

Adam Williams

Tue 25 February 2025 19:15, UK

The Dan Friedkin revolution is in full force and it seems an eternity ago that Everton were patient zero of the Premier League’s PSR outbreak and gasping for air in the deep end of the debt pool.

David Moyes is proving an inspired hire by The Friedkin Group, for whom the Toffees’ Premier League status ahead of the move to Bramley Moore Dock was by far the biggest risk in the takeover.

Barring a 14-point swing and a collapse that would go down in the history books, Everton will be a top flight club next season when t🔯hey move into the new✅ 52,888-seater stadium.

Dan Friedkin is therefore now able to concentrate on maximising the commercial value of Bramley🃏 Moore Dock, as well as making the right hires at the back of house.

Leeds United’s Angus Kinnear is reportedly a target for the CEO position currently occupied on a temporary basis by Colin Chongไ, whose expertꦍise – it is said – could be retained in a different role.

Chong has been instrumental in delivering the stadium in one of the most trying periods in Everton’s history, fighting on multiple fronts in terms of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and the takeover.

But while the bricks, mortar, glass and steel are all in place and the first test event has been staged at Bramley Moore Dock – an under 1🎃8s defeat to Wigan Athletic – the project is fa♔r from finished.

One of Chong’s deputies, Richard Kenyon, who heads up the commercial department, has the task 🎶of ensuring that the stadium lives up to its transformative finan🤪cial billing.

Speaking exclusively to TBR Football earlier this year, Liverpool University football finance lecturer and industry insider Kieran Maguire said Everton sho🎃uld be looking to double matchday income.

Matchday income has been almost completely static at around £18m at Goodison Park for a decade – but it isn’t just the cas♒h through the turnstiles that will soar at the new stadium.

Bramley Moore Dock wꦅill give Everton renewed leverage with sponsors and Kenyon, alongside the commercial agency Elevate Sports, has already secured several deals directly linked to the stadium.

Castore, Aramark and Christopher Ward have all signed up as ‘Founding Partners’, while OC꧃S have partnered with the club to🍸 provide facilities management.

But the biggest sponsorship vacancy of all, naming rights, is yet to be filled. Or, at least, the club are waiting until the announcement will make maximum impact to reveal🐎 the sponsor publicly.

Everton ha♊ve been looking for naming rights partner si꧙nce 2021, when they enlisted Elevate to lead the search. Kenyon has said that the club has fielded multiple offers and is looking for a🗹 10-year deal.

Now, TBR Football, has fresh detail about one potential candidate.

• READ MORE: Fabrizio Romano shares 💜what Everton must do to sign Carlos Alcaraz permanently

AJ Bell among Everton naming rights candidates

In June last year, two lifelong Evertonians, Andy Bell and George Downing, emerged as contenders to buy Everton from Farhad Moshiri.

Bell helped broker the funding d꧟eal for Bramley Moore Dock and was at one stage expected to be a partner in MSP Sports🌳 Capital’s part-takeover bid.

Bell is the founder of AJ Bell, the financial investment platform with꧂ a market cap of just under £2bn.

TBR Football chief correspo﷽ndent Gra𒉰eme Bailey can share that a naming rights deal with AJ Bell has been explored by the club.

AJ Bell a💫re already in the naming rights racket, 𒈔sponsoring Sale Sharks’ Salford City Stadium and the Great North Run series.

Since the takeover, Everton are understood to be thinking more🍬 about a multi-naꦍtional brand but are still assessing their options.

One possibility, although unconfirmed, is that AJ Bell could sponsor an area of the stadium – perhaps a hos𝔉pitality suite.

A deal with AJ Bell would fit with what Craig Martin, Elevate’s chief partners✤hips officer, recently said about positioning the stadiuꦬm as a “community-driven” asset.

Martin also reiterated that a minimum 10-year deal is the prioriജty, as is having the right deal – one that fits with their club v🌠alues and wider commercial strategy – in place before August.

One quirk of the story 💞is that Elevate are co-owned by RedBird Capital, who in turn are shareholders in🔯 Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group.

• READ MORE: Evertonꦑ’s PSR status explain🧔ed as Sean Dyche primed for extra bonus payment

Who else could sponsor Bramley Moore Dock?

Those consulted by TBR Football suggest that a £10-15m per year deal is realistic for B✤ramley Moore Dock, although the exact structure of the deal will be more complex than simply🐎 an annual fee.

If Everto💙n do choose to pursue a multinational brand as opposed to a local angle, Toyota have been touted as a potential partᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚner.

The Japanese firm’s Texas operation is run by Friedkin and they are very active in the 🅘naming rights market, with over a dozen stadia worldwide sporting their branding.

Qat💙ar Airways is one of the only other names to have been linked concretely to the club, although that was now several years ago.

A deal with the airline would make some sense, however. Gulf state airlines are routinely linked with new naming rights deals. Riyadh A⭕ir, Emirates and Etihad are all involved already.

Qatar Airways are also set to be the principle partner for Euro 202🎐8, with Bramley Moore Dock among t🍬he host stadiums.

DHL and Allianz are big players in the 🐽market too, as are Red Bull, who are already Everton’s official energy drinks partner, although having the word ‘red’ abovꩲe the door would surely be a step too far.