Newcastle United shirt sponsorship - Financial expert lets slip possible reason for delay
Newcastle United are yet to confirm who will replace Sela as the club's front-of-shirt sponsor.
Football financial expert Stefan Borson has suggested Newcastle United could be awaiting Premier League approval to announce their front-of-shirt sponsor.
As reported by The Gazette in midweek, the Magpies are in advanced talks about securing a new sponsor. In a PSR-dominated world, many fans have feared a financial hit if Newcastle were to start the new campaign without one.
Saudi events company Sela - owned by the Public Investment Fund - have partnered Newcastle since 2023. However, that deal has ended, with Toon chiefs aiming to attract further investment to boost the coffers.
The Gazette has launched a WhatsApp NUFC channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates directly to your phone. Simply click this link to join our NUFC WhatsApp channel.
Financial expert speaks out
Newcastle release their home shirt for the upcoming campaign on Wednesday. But it is understood that early kits sold in stores will not feature the new sponsor.
Speaking to Football Insider, monetary guru Borson has claimed this is likely due to the Premier League needing to approve the deal. Since 2021, as a direct result of the Saudi-backed takeover, top-flight clubs voted to introduce Associated Party Transaction rules to ensure commercial agreements were of fair market value.
Newcastle’s partnership with Sela was worth around £25million per season. Borson claims this still equates to fair market value for the Magpies - which would not make sense from their perspective.
"The only logical thing is either that it's a very short-term deal, in which case they are negotiating the sort of nuts and bolts of the deal and have not yet got to a point where they can announce it,” Borson said. "Or alternatively, it's a Saudi deal that's currently in front of the Premier League for approval.
“I think the latter is more likely, and it would be in front of the Premier League because it would be an associated party. Therefore, it has to be fair market value, and fair market value for Newcastle in a non-Champions League season is probably something like £20million, £25million. So anything around that sort of number is going to get approved, and then it'll be good."
David Hopkinson on SCR change
Earlier this year, after Newcastle released their financial accounts, CEO David Hopkinson asserted that SCR - set to replace PSR to align English clubs closer to UEFA’s model - will help close the gap on the elite. He said: “We’ve got to generate more revenue, give ourselves a bigger envelope to work with.
“SCR will give us the opportunity to invest away from the pitch to unlock revenue generation capabilities we can then deploy on the pitch. It’s frustrating that you can’t just go buy a trophy, dump the money into your squad - the rules prohibit that.
“The other reason we prefer SCR to PSR is that it’s the system UEFA uses. Quite frankly, the simplicity of working under one financial regime and not two, is important to us.
“If we execute superbly, there might be £100million in annual run-rate revenue that could be unlocked. Our revenue is worth about £400 million, that could become £500 million and stretch further to £550million. Then we’d enter the conversation (of competing at the top). That’s our ambition and it’s our job now to go unlock this (income).”
Your next Newcastle United read: Medical booked - Newcastle United favourite set for challenge as new club revealed