Saudia make St James' Park 'ultimate matchday' announcement after multi-year Newcastle United deal
Saudia has announced its latest fan-focused commercial activation with partners Newcastle United.
Newcastle United’s official airline partner, Saudia, has announced the launch of the 2026 Saudia Cup, which will be held at St James’ Park on Monday, 18 May.
The match will take place the day after Newcastle’s final home game of the 2025/26 Premier League season against West Ham United.
It will feature a team of Newcastle legends, with five lucky supporters given the chance to play alongside them on the pitch.
Saudia has launched a competition offering five fans the ‘ultimate matchday moment’. The winners will line up with the Newcastle legends, enjoy a one-night hotel stay in Newcastle, and receive full travel arrangements to and from the city if required.
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NUFC’s multi-year partnership with Saudia
Saudia, the national flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, first partnered with Newcastle United in December 2022 during the club’s warm-weather training camp and friendly against Al-Hilal in Riyadh.
Following the club’s takeover by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in October 2021, the relationship was formalised in 2023 with a multi-year commercial deal. The partnership has seen Saudia gain prominent advertising around St James’ Park and support various fan-focused initiatives, with the Saudia Cup being the latest activation.
At the time the deal was announced, Newcastle’s then chief commercial officer, Peter Silverstone, said: “This is a natural step in our growing relationship with Saudia and follows our hugely successful partnership in 2022.
“We were incredibly impressed with Saudia, both on board our flights to and from the Middle East, and in what we experienced as our teams activated our partnership during the 2022/23 season. Saudia’s partnership activations were extremely well received by our growing local and global fanbase.
“Our ambition is to grow Newcastle United globally and to become the most popular Premier League club in Saudi Arabia and other territories around the world. Saudia will open up new markets for Newcastle United as we strengthen our connection with fans across the globe.”
Stadium naming rights
One potentially lucrative commercial avenue that remains untapped by Newcastle would be to sell the naming rights of St James’ Park.
Saudia’s sister airline Riyadh Air agreed a record nine-year deal to rename Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium, reported to be worth £250million to the club. That deal coincides with Riyadh Air’s shirt sponsorship deal with Atletico worth £33.5million a season.
Newcastle effectively sold St James’ Park to itself via PZ Holdings Ltd last year. The long-term future of the stadium remains up in the air, but various commercial deals are being explored.
‘More will come’
Newcastle’s commercial revenue has increased significantly in recent years. New chief executive David Hopkinson is now tasked with driving further growth in this area following Silverstone’s departure.
The club recently secured a new training ground sponsorship with KNOX, with several other major commercial deals understood to be in the pipeline.
On the KNOX partnership, Hopkinson said: “We’re thrilled about it, more will come.”
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