Spurs’ CEO Daniel Levy has been trying and failing to flog the naming rights to the rather blandly named Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for some while, now, and without success.
AIA and HSBC have already graciously declined, and with both of those being close to home, it reflects the likelihood that total strangers had already bailed, long before then.
An industry expert poured lashings cold water on Levy’s chances over a year ago – and that was before the Coronavirus tipped the game upside down.
Now the Daily Mail reports that Levy is seething that the Spurs’ stadium won’t feature in the proposed end of Premier League season games next month.
Along with “other” commercial considerations, the paper understands that our Daniel believes that Spurs not playing at home will reduce the exposure his £1billion arena would receive.
This is an optimistic spin on reality.
The truth is, that naming rights, like Levy’s largest retail space in Europe gambit, are dated ideas. High Streets had already had the stuffing kicked out of them by the Internet, and now with social distancing likely to be around for a long time, the idea that bricks and mortar retail will mount a comeback anytime soon is optimistic. Paying tens of millions to have your name above a door – any door in N17 – doesn’t have the required cache.
Of course, there might be one way around this hurdle… if Spurs were a trophy-winning side. Ah… Levy’s chairman’s messages began writing themselves some good time ago.
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