Qpr To Give Stadium Naming Rights To Charity
EFL club Queens Park Rangers has revealed plans to donate the naming rights for its Loftus Road stadium to a local charity from the start of next season.
QPR fans will be able to nominate local charities through a survey that will be available on the club’s website until 3rd May. The club will then compile a shortlist of nominations, with fans given the opportunity to vote for their preferred choice.
The club has said that fans should take into consideration a number of factors when deciding on their nomination.
The charity must be local in nature and have a strong impact on the community, whilst its potential to benefit from broader recognition should also be considered, QPR stated. The charity should also have the “appropriate internal infrastructure in place to take advantage of the increased awareness”.
The club’s Chief Executive, Lee Hoos, said: “I have spoken with the Supporters Consultation Committee as well as numerous individual fans and floated this idea to them. We spoke about how we can use Loftus Road to really help a charity get exposure they would never normally be able to achieve.
“The message that came back from the fans I spoke to was that it had to be a charity that meant something to the supporters, and it had to be a local organisation which positively impacts on the community.
“There are so many worthwhile causes out there who do incredible things, so the next question was how we decide which charity to work with. Consultation with fans is something that I have always believed in, and so it makes absolute sense to let the supporters make that decision.”
In February, Hoos reiterated the club’s desire to leave Loftus Road in the future, stating that it is “unsustainable” due to its size, age and lack of facilities for non-matchday use.
Loftus Road opened in 1904 and QPR started playing matches at the stadium in 1917. With a current capacity of about 18,500, the club is exploring plans drawn up by Hammersmith & Fulham Council to rebuild the nearby Linford Christie Stadium as a 45,000-seat facility for the club.
The length of the proposed stadium naming-rights deal has not been disclosed, but the initiative marks just the latest charitable initiative by the club.
QPR and the QPR in the Community Trust picked up the Leadership in Sport Award at the BT Sport Industry Awards 2018 for their #Game4Grenfell fundraising drive following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in nearby North Kensington in 2017.
