'Spectacular' - Newcastle United chief hails transformative deal after £50m investment

Newcastle United chief commercial officer Peter Silverstone admitted he has been ‘blown away’ by Sela following Saturday’s light show on the Quayside.

The show celebrated the one-year anniversary of Sela’s sponsorship deal with Newcastle, understood to be worth around £25million per-season. The deal has provided a huge boost to The Magpies’ commercial revenue, generating £50million so far as a result of the multi-year deal.

The light show took place over the River Tyne and was beamed onto the Baltic Flour Mill. It featured several iconic Newcastle moments and honoured legends such as Alan Shearer and Jackie Milburn, who were projected walking across the river. The show also featured a tribute to former manager Sir Bobby Robson and looked through the club’s history before going to the present day with the unveiling of the new 2024-25 Adidas home shirt.

The show ended with the message: “And this is only the beginning.”

Commenting after the show, Newcastle CCO Silverstone told the club website: “Over the past 12 months we have been blown away by Sela's capabilities in delivering spectacular experiences for Newcastle fans. The club, our fans and the city of Newcastle, will never take these experiences for granted. 

"From delivering the unforgettable Champions League drone show to making the St. James' Park matchday experience more inclusive for members of the Deaf community through launching haptic shirts - Sela has demonstrated that it is a more than simply a 'sponsor' on the front of our shirts. 

"Within the first year of our partnership, Sela has become entrenched in the local community and continues to create spectacular, purposeful memories that will last the tests of time. Sela has put our supporters at the heart of all their activities and we are so proud to have them as part of our Newcastle United family. [Saturday] night we were all one together."

Sela senior vice president, Ibrahim Mohtaseb, said: “We wanted to round off our first year of sponsorship of Newcastle United with an unforgettable night for the city, using Sela's capabilities as a creator of live events and experiences. We've worked hard to understand fan culture and the local community, and it was incredible to see so many thousands of people come down to the banks of the Tyne. 

"We hope they enjoyed this special show that celebrated the city, the fans and their club. We wanted to use iconic city landmarks to really bring that to life. Newcastle is a one-club city with such a rich history and an exciting future ahead; last night we were all one together.  

"We very much look forward to what the future holds for the club and our partnership. One thing we can be sure of is that as Sela we want to deliver more spectacular experiences for fans to enjoy."

Sela is described as a ‘leading live events and experiences company in the Middle East’ and has now delivered two innovative public shows for Newcastle supporters. In addition to Saturday’s display, Sela launched a drone display above St James’ Park to celebrate the club’s return to Champions League football ahead of the 4-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain - another iconic moment referenced in the light show.

Sela also donated its front of shirt sponsor to RNID (Royal National Institute of Deaf people) and developed state-of-the-art haptic shirts as part of their ‘Unsilence the Crowd’ campaign for Newcastle’s 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in April.