No Naming Rights Sale For Lord’s

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the owners of Lord’s, have ruled out suggestions that they would look to sell the naming rights to the famous cricket stadium in a bid to finance a £400m redevelopment plan.

The MCC has confirmed that redevelopment plans will in part be funded by flats around the stadium and that it will not even look at selling rights for individual stands.

MCC chief executive Keith Bradshaw stated: ‘There’s no way we would rename Lord’s. It’s the home of cricket, the hallowed turf. It’s not an option at all.

‘It’s something that we wouldn’t consider, and in fact I even have a real problem even considering renaming the stands within the ground that are now dedicated to famous cricketers.

‘It’s not on the agenda, it’s not on the cards and there’s no way we’ll be going down that path.’

The plans for Lord’s, entitled Vision for Lord’s, include increasing the capacity from 30,000 to 37,000, installing retractable floodlights, an underground cricket academy and expanded museum.

The work is expected start in 2011 at the earliest and will take 10 years to complete.

While the full funding required for the project has yet to be secured, Bradshaw remains convinced that the traditions of the venue should come before any commercialisation: ‘To play at Lord’s is a very special experience, Lord’s has such a wonderful history and tradition and it’s those traditions that we need to preserve.

‘The stands are named after Compton and Edrich and Warner. They’re very famous names and I couldn’t see the day, certainly in my time, when we’d want to be naming them after a sponsor.

‘I do feel to a degree that would be selling our soul. We have so much to offer at Lord’s and I think it’s about protecting our history for the future.

‘Whatever we do in terms of the vision, it’s cricket-led, it’s not commercial-led. We’ve taken a lot of things into consideration in terms of the design, not from a commercial perspective, but a cricket perspective.

‘We want Lord’s to continue to be the best ground in the world and we believe that we need to move with the times and make some developments, but keep that ambience and the things that make it very special to come to Lord’s.’