When money is more than the history of the club: Newcastle’s new owners want change, it will involve the stadium

It’s no secret that there will be big changes after the takeover of the club. Whether it’s in terms of future reinforcements or changes in the implementation team. The Saudi owners are planning changes that will affect St. James Park.

Newcastle United’s new owners are considering selling the rights to the stadium’s current name, St. James Park. However, they say they would only do so with the approval of the fans.

This idea was suggested to the current owners of the English team by the Saudi Arabian finance minister, Mohammed Al-Jadaan. This option is seen as one way of increasing revenue and consequently purchasing power as part of financial fair play.

A similar situation has already happened here once before, in 2011, when former owner Mike Ashley renamed the stadium Sports Direct Arena. However, after a very negative reaction from fans, Newcastle’s home stand was renamed back.

It is therefore highly unlikely that their opinion on the matter will change. After all, St. James’s Park has been the home of Newcastle for a whopping 129 years, with football being played here since 1880.

So Newcastle supporters are likely to be consulted in the near future about whether they can bear a name change, perhaps as part of adding more funds to their already gigantic budget.

Saudi Arabian Airlines seems to be one of the possibilities for further commercial and business partnership.

The Minister of Finance later commented on this as well. “I would say that if people are worried about competition between clubs, and especially now that we have invested in one of them, it’s a good sign that a serious competitor is coming their way,” he told US television CNBC.

But he was also responding to the temporary sponsorship freeze. While the club believes the amendment is illegal, it should not jeopardise their long-term plans for commercial opportunities. And Al Jadaan has backed up this very claim.

He further adds that he is confident that with further investments and innovations, the club will be even better and stronger.

Source: DailyMail