Ethos Public Relations Manchester

Does the rebranding of football stadiums damage brand reputation?

by Rob

As a PR agency, one of the things we have to consider when working with clients is the value of their brand. Although many people think of brands as big names such as The Co-operative, Persil or Staples – every single business is a brand.

The perception of a company’s brand is extremely important because, if the public respect or get excited about the brand, then they are more inclined to come back – which usually results in increased sales, profit and awareness. Therefore it is essential that the heritage and trustworthiness of a brand is intact and defended.

The News of the World, Tiger Woods and BP are examples of brands that have suffered terrible damage to their reputations and may never be viewed in the same light again.

As a football fan, I was interested to read recently about the decision of Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley, to rename the stadium of his football team. He has changed the St James’ Park name to the Sports Direct Arena – after the company he owns.

The owner already had a fractious relationship with the Newcastle fans and many of them now think he has just gone too far – dismissing the heritage of the club’s illustrious past. But has the renaming of the stadium damaged the Newcastle United brand like many suggest?

Mr Ashley says he has renamed the stadium so that potential new sponsors can see the potential of having a big and atmospheric stadium emblazoned with their name and branding. But if Newcastle fans are so up in arms about this, then are they going to be anymore accepting of any other brand? To them it is, and forever will be, St James’ Park.

Other football clubs have rebranded and the renaming of their stadiums seems to have worked – for example, Etihad Stadium, Reebok Stadium, Emirates Stadium. But the problem to me is when the sponsor’s contract comes to an end.

York City, who now play at Bootham Crescent (their original name), signed a deal with Nestlé that saw their stadium rebranded as the KitKat Crescent. And AFC Bournemouth renamed their stadium (Dean Court) the Fitness First Stadium – and now that that contract has ended it is now called Seward Stadium after rights were sold to the Seward Motor Group. How long until their stadium name changes again?

Mr Ashley says that renaming the stadium will bring in £10 million a year which will enable them to build a better team. But if the renaming damages the brand, isolates the fans and causes them to not attend matches, then what is the point of having a good team playing in a half empty stadium?

Posted at 11:46am on 22^nd November 2011