WFI Newsdesk: Barclays Premiership sponsorship; Spurs progress stadium plan; NFL looks at London franchise

(WFI) Barclays has extended its sponsorship of the English Premier League for a further three years.

The $135 million deal runs from 2010/11 through to the end of the 2012/13 season and continues the bank’s long running association with English football’s top flight. 

Barclays and its credit card business Barclaycard have sponsored the EPL since 2001. Previously it sponsored the Football League First Division from 1987-92.

The new deal is worth nearly a quarter more than Barclays’ previous sponsorship of the Premier League – valued at $108 million – agreed three years ago.

Bob Diamond, president of Barclays PLC, hailed the “positive emotional link” between football and the bank’s brand and said that it represented good value for money. The deal comes at a time when British banks are under scrutiny for their profligacy, but Diamond said that the deal represented a “cost-effective” solution for Barclays.

 "Football is the world's favorite sport bringing pleasure to hundreds of millions of people across the globe, and our sponsorship of the world's most popular league creates a positive emotional link between our brand and football fans everywhere,” he said.

"The Barclays Premier League sponsorship has been very successful for Barclays and the strategic fit is stronger than ever. The sponsorship is a very important element of our marketing mix and provides a cost effective method to market our organization, helping us in our ambition to be one of a handful of banks leading the global financial services industry."

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said he was “extremely pleased” that the league’s partnership was continuing.

"The Premier League's strength is that it is an essentially English competition which has gained a huge international following. This clearly resonates with Barclays' own business development and aspirations.

"Barclays' commitment is critical to helping us continue to put on a top quality football competition that is watched and enjoyed by football fans at home as well as across the world."

As well as naming rights for the Premier League, the deal includes exclusive world-wide marketing rights, U.K. and international TV broadcast exposure, advertising packages, match day tickets and hospitality. Barclays will also continue to sponsor the biannual Asia Trophy pre-season tournament, staged in China last summer.

Philip Patterson, director at Synergy, the U.K.’s leading marketing consultancy specializing in sponsorship, told World Football Insider that the new deal was further evidence of how recession-proof football has proven.

“The Barclays deal with the Premier League shows that the recession is doing little to impact on the hunger that exists for brands to associate themselves with the right property,” he said.

“Barclays fit with what is the most exciting domestic league in the world means that it was prepared to pay significantly more than its deal signed in 2006. In order to now drive economies and efficiencies from the relationship, Barclays must now ensure that it activates effectively to not only talk to fans in the UK, but more importantly internationally.”

Spurs submit new stadium proposal

Tottenham Hotspur have submitted plans to build a new 56,000-seater stadium on the site of their existing ground in north London.

"We have designed what will be a vibrant area 365 days a year and not a stadium with dead space surrounding it," said Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.

"Our desire from the outset has been to create a scheme of major benefit for local people and to deliver the most fan-friendly stadium in Europe.”

The centerpiece of the stadium plan is a 63-row single-tier stand, similar to Liverpool’s Kop. It is hoped that this will help maximize the atmosphere in one of football’s more traditionally staid arenas.

"The inclusion of a new single-tier stand combined

with a fantastic stadium design demonstrates our absolute commitment to create the most atmospheric stadium for our supporters,” said Levy.

"Every fan will have an exceptional view of the action and will find themselves closer to the pitch than at any other comparable stadium."

The plans also include a new club museum, a hotel and 434 new homes. Based in an economically deprived enclave of north London, Tottenham have been keen to emphasize the regeneration benefits of the plans.

Although one of English football’s perennial underachievers – Spurs are without a league title in half a century – they remain one of the country’s best supported clubs. White Hart Lane is a 36,000 sell out every week, and despite phenomenally expensive prices there is a 23,000 long waiting list for season tickets. The club also claims 70,000 registered members.

The new stadium is expected to be one of three or four listed in London’s host city bid proposal for the 2018 World Cup Finals, which will be submitted to the Football Association next month.

England 2018 bid chief executive Andy Anson, said: "Tottenham's provisional designs for their new stadium are very impressive. Potential England 2018 host cities will deliver their final bid submissions to us in November and we fully expect the stadium to be one of those included."

Fox gains exclusive U.S. Premier League rights

Fox Sports has secured exclusive rights to show Premier League matches in the U.S. until 2013.

The deal, for an undisclosed amount, gives the Newscorp-owned broadcaster rights to all 380 EPL games for the 2010/11 the to the 2012/13 seasons. Fox will show games on its Fox Soccer Channel and its Spanish language station Fox Sports en Espanol.

“Fox Sports has been a long-term partner of the Premier League and has always provided excellent coverage for the competition,” said EPL chief executive Richard Scudamore.  

“I am sure they will continue, together with their affiliates, to showcase all the best match action across a range of programming and technologies for the benefit of our fans across the U.S., Central and South America."

In securing the deal, Fox beat off stiff competition from ESPN. Earlier this year the Disney-owned broadcaster bought rights previously owned by the bankrupt Irish broadcaster, Setanta, and will show 48 EPL games this season. ESPN had hoped to build on this package, having recently also lost the rights to show UEFA Champions League games to Fox.

London may get NFL team

American football may dent the Premier League’s dominance with a London franchise.

Speaking ahead of the regular season match between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots at Wembley on Sunday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodall said it would be “very practical” for the city to get an NFL franchise if interest continued to grow.

His comments were echoed by Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a longstanding supporter of the NFL’s overseas expansion. “I really believe it’d be the right thing to do sometime in the next decade,” he said. “There should be a franchise here. We’ve had great support here and in Germany, so we look forward and see what happens.”

Such a prospect will also be viewed with concern by English football’s powerbrokers. 

Last time American football was a genuinely popular and widely watched sport in the U.K. coincided with English football’s 1980s nadir, when attendances slumped to record lows and TV broadcast disputes made the NFL more readily available than the old First Division.

There are signs that a revival of the sport in the U.K. is already underway. Sunday’s game was the third year running a regular season game has been played in London. In contrast to the NHL and NBA, which has tried to break into the British market in recent years but met a cool reception, the NFL has been enthusiastically received. 

Albeit starting from a low base, American football is one of the fastest-growing participation sports in the U.K. Goodell has also previously suggested London may be in the running to host the Super Bowl.

Written by James Corbett        

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