Stoke City have said they are confident their new stadium rights deal with the club’s owners, the online betting company Bet365, will comply with the Premier League’s financial fair play rules.
Introduced for the 2013-16 television deal and due to be ratified for the next one, the £8bn deal that runs from next season to 2018-19, the regulations require owners to limit money put into their clubs to bankroll losses. Owners or companies connected to them cannot disguise investment by means of inflated sponsorship deals, so the Premier League, as in Uefa’s FFP regulations, requires such deals to be for a demonstrably fair market value.
Stoke have been seeking a new naming rights partner for the stadium, which has been sponsored since it opened in 1997 by the Britannia building society, now part of the Co-operative Bank. In a difficult market to find naming rights sponsors, Bet365, owned by the family of Peter Coates, who also own Stoke City, have agreed to sponsor the stadium for six years.
The value of the deal, under which Stoke’s home will become the Bet365 Stadium from next season, as well as extending the company’s sponsorship of the club shirt, has not been disclosed.
Stoke also announced plans to build 1,800 more seats by filling in a corner of the ground, to lift its capacity above 30,000 by the start of the 2017-18 season.
John Coates, Peter’s son, the joint chief executive of Bet365 with his sister Denise and also Stoke City’s vice-chairman, was quoted in the club’s announcement saying on behalf of Bet365: “Entering into a stadium naming rights agreement with Stoke City seemed a natural fit, especially as the city of Stoke-on-Trent is home to Bet365.”
A club spokesperson answered the question about whether the deal is for fair market value by saying: “We are comfortable we will continue to comply with FFP rules.”
