Newcastle United have announced a multi-year contract reportedly worth 25 million pounds per season with Saudi Arabia event company, Sela, to become the club’s main jersey sponsor.
The Saudi event company named Sela founded in 1995 will replace Newcastle’s betting brand shirt sponsor, Fun88, from the start of the 2023/2024 English Premier League season.
Sela is controlled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which carries an 80 percent majority possession stake in Newcastle.
Several potential sponsors have been in talks with the club over the past few months, and now it has been announced that betting company Fun888’s £6.5 million annual sponsorship would be replaced by Sela.
Following the confirmation of the deal, which was first announced in May, it has upheld the English Premier League‘s new sponsorship rules.
Regulations were put in place by Premier League after the Saudi-backed takeover of Newcastle to prevent teams from gaining an unfair financial advantage by striking commercial arrangements with companies affiliated with their owners at inflated costs.
According to the guidelines, all transactions must take place at the fair market value as decided by a neutral person.
The new agreement is worth much more than Newcastle’s previous partnership with Fun88, which reportedly paid the club £6.5 million ($8 million) a year, however, the value will have been increased by the Magpies qualifying for next season’s UEFA Champions League.
Newcastle’s chief commercial officer Peter Silverstone said Sela’s marketing skills will be crucial in accomplishing the club’s objective of being the most-supported Premier League club in Saudi Arabia.
According to Newcastle, more information on the agreement will be announced in due course.
However, Newcastle United CEO, Darren Eales said; “We are delighted to welcome Sela as our new front-of-shirt partner”.
“This partnership follows a highly competitive commercial process and we believe we have found the perfect front-of-shirt partner to support us in reaching our objective on and off the pitch”.
“We team up at an exciting time in the history of both organizations giving both shares an ambitious vision to expand their brands globally”.
He added: “Fans engagement is central to what we do at Newcastle United and in Sela, we are partnering with an organization with shared interests that have delivered incredible events and experience to millions of people over many years”.
Sela described itself via its official website as thus: ” Sela is the leading event management company and a pioneer in the sports industry field with proven unprecedented achievement based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.
According to the company’s representative, this action is part of a larger plan to expand overseas investment over time.
They reportedly bring in over a billion every year, so they have plenty of capital to put into the investment.
The company’s long-term goal is to significantly increase its footprint in the UK and beyond. Because of their extensive background in sports and football, including bringing the Italian and Spanish Super Cups to Saudi Arabia, they consider Newcastle United as a good vehicle to help achieve that goal.
What’s your take on this? Share your thoughts with us below:
