Newcastle Allowed To Sign Saudi Sponsorship Deals
The Premier League will allow Newcastle United to make sponsorship deals with Saudi Arabian companies, providing that the league considers them “fair market value”.
It was announced on Tuesday that Premier League shareholders had removed the temporary block put on the club since it was controversially taken over by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
A number of Premier League sides were reportedly opposed to the takeover, which will see the exit of Premier League chairman Gary Hoffman at the end of January.
After the Saudi state’s sovereign wealth fund took control of Newcastle, a freeze on any clubs signing commercial deals with companies linked to their investors was rushed through temporarily by rivals to prevent them being unfairly used to curb Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
But Premier League clubs agreed to introduce regulations that mean sponsorships from companies associated with a club’s owners can resume but will have to be approved by the competition’s board.
The Premier League will assess if deals such as jersey sponsorships and stadium naming rights have been negotiated at a fair value that other clubs could expect to generate from similar contracts rather than being inflated.
The league will weigh up the value of the deal against a database of similar transactions and consult independent assessors.
League chiefs hope this will prevent manipulation of FFP regulations.
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