Tottenham make stadium naming rights call with five sponsors in the frame

There have been plenty of near misses over the years. Several brands thought they were close before talks fell through at the last minute.

But last month brought some tangible progress. Just two weeks after Levy stepped down (though he still holds shares), Spurs signed Sports Illustrated Tickets as the first member of their new commercial initiative called ‘The Collective’. The 12-year deal includes East Stand sponsorship and various activations around the stadium.

A 12-year agreement was signed with Sports Illustrated Tickets, covering East Stand branding and other activations throughout Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The MetLife Stadium approach has inspired Tottenham’s segmented strategy

The MetLife Stadium model uses one main naming rights partner alongside four gate sponsors – HCLTech, Verizon, Moody’s and Bud Light. “We’re identifying how we authentically integrate brands into these spaces without taking away from the design, the architecture… You don’t want it to become a billboard,” said Norys.

TBR Football spoke exclusively with BDS Sponsorship CEO Richard Busby about this move

Norys explained that even without full-stadium sponsorships in place yet, Spurs were already seeing significant commercial growth: “Even prior to launching these individual partnerships we had already quadrupled revenues from where we left off at White Hart Lane.”

“The problem will come if they are negotiating with primary sponsors in the consumer, tech or high net worth areas as that will make it very difficult to get a stadium naming rights deal from any of those sectors. Naming rights and primary sponsors will all expect category exclusivity.

“A cardinal rule of sponsorship is sell the top of the pyramid first and then primary sponsors afterwards.”