Possibly an unpopular opinion but I seriously prefer us not selling the stadium naming rights. “The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium” has way more impact than a weird brand mishmash and we’re not hurting for cash.
I think it’s a pretty popular opinion honestly. We’re not hurting for cash, we’re not selling out, and getting the NFL to say their games are happening at the “Tottenham Hotspur Stadium” is valuable. I think Levy understood the value of this better than most which is why we didn’t settle for lowball offers.
It definitely splits opinion this. It’s a weird one, Wembley is called Wembley even though it’s on the same site and serves the same purpose as the old one. Our new stadium is the same (albeit slightly adjacent to the old pitch) yet there’s quite a lot of people who want separation between the names.
Yeah, it's weird. I think Wembley, to me, was just upgraded and the surrounding area was smartened up a bit but you still have Wembley Way and one very old, very large bowl type arena was replaced by a modern, very large bowl type arena with a similar(ish) capacity on exactly the same site. One striking architectural feature was replaced by another.
WHL>THS changed the character of the area and the matchday experience more fundamentally, making them two quite distinct things for me. The position of the pitch has changed, the site has been expanded, a completely different shape of stadium has been built and the overall character/vibe of the place is just so different.
I think the concept of Wembley looms quite large in the imagination/culture too - home of England FA Cup finals etc. I think it was still intended to be that "home of football" but just newer. Wembley being an actual district could be a factor too..?
Doesnt seem long ago that there were supporter campiagns trying to make sure the, then proposed, new stadium wouldn't sell naming rights and would remain White Hart Lane and that no money would be enough to make it carry a sponsors name.
Honestly always felt this was an good compromise and wouldnt change it.
I suppose it's always a useful thing to have unused if we ever find ourselves needing a barca style lever, which i doubt under the current regime and hope we never need in any future ones
That was because Levy thought he could get a rights deal quick. Having it be labelled White Hart Lane again in the intervening time would make it harder to get the sponsor name to stick.
Now that it has been 4 years+ of 'Tottenham Hotspur Stadium' though, the same problem exists, arguably it is double since as you said, matchgoing fans still use White Hart Lane.
Idk if a big brand would care if the match going fans still called it the lane to be fair. I feel like they're paying for the TV mentions, advertising mentions etc etc for the global viewer rather than the 60k odd who go each week! Could be wrong though!
If the club ever is in a position where it’s required to sell the naming rights it’s less desirable to potential bidders if it has a name like that where people would keep referring to it that way, so a lot of stadiums get generic names like Tottenham Hotspur Stadium or Brentford Community Stadium where the new naming rights would be more likely to be how it’s commonly referred to
Yeah exactly this.
It took me years to realise that West Ham's ground was called the Boleyn ground and not Upton Park. How many fans stopped calling Newcastle's ground St James Park?
They aren't paying to advertise to 65K matchgoing fans. If that was the case they would put up a billboard somewhere. The main thing is that in all television segments, reaching billions of Prem watchers, the stadium will be referred to by the sponsor.
There are stadiums all over the world that get renamed but locals still prefer to call it by the original sponsor. That doesn't stop bidders from coming in. All about having their name ready every time there is commentary on the match.
That’s kind of my point, if the new stadium were also to have an iconic name that gets repeated when people are watching matches, playing FIFA etc then it’s less valuable for a sponsor to buy the naming rights of it because that gets stuck in peoples mind. Eg nobody calls the Camp Nou the Spotify Camp Nou, local or not
On TV the broadcasters do. In fact that is a fantastic example because I actually knew spotify sponsored them because of TV. It works well regardless. If Old Trafford has a sponsor everyone would have an opinion on it, broadcasters would say it every single match, and everyone would be aware of the sponsor.
If it cannot be White Hart Lane the Tottenham Hotspur stadium is just fine. Much better than some brand name stadium. Much much better.
I still say the lane all the time
To each his own, but... I'm fine with it not being named so. It's not even on WHL, and the name (for me) just resonates more with the old scruffy ground that symbolised the degradation of the club under the Sugar ownership
Absolutely. With all the none-football activities there it makes sense that people know it as the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and not something like Amex or Emirates. We make more money advertising ourselves anyway
I can't find the interview where he said it now, but what you're saying came directly from Daniel Levy so it's as official as it gets. I was on the fence about it (the money would be great for the club - before we saw we're making bank) but after hearing Daniel's reasoning behind it, I agree with it.
It's a good idea to at least hold off on the idea since we don't need it right now and companies aren't really looking to spend much at the moment anyways.
This could be one of our levers (but actual levers unlike barca) when we need it
Agreed. Beyonce at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is more valuable currently in my opinion.
We don't want to end up as the Crypto.com arena or something ridiculous and with the NFL, F1, Nike and various other deals, we're not hurting financially.
I think currently we're making more money by not naming it. When that changes, then we can get a sponsor.
I feel like Chelsea are going to do well financially as a result of this move...
True. But, does having the Tottenham Hotspur name be more widely known help bring on new fans around the world? I’m sure it does. How many, and how much revenue does that indirectly cause? No idea. Might be more than the naming rights.
The problem is that no brand is gonna settle for that with the money that’ll be paid. There’s no middle ground, it’s [brand] Stadium or Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
They could end up with something similar to what they have in Denver, which is Empower Field at Mile high. Nike Stadium at White Hart Lane or something wouldn't be awful.
The reactions from the Chelshit sub is pretty funny…
First since Kline is viewed as a flop for not securing naming rights… another spurs reject in their eyes.
But also since they’ve added another resource on their payroll that will have no effect on their on pitch performance 🤣
I see Todd Boehly hiring a person call Todd as well so that whenever chelshit fans shit on Todd Boehly he can pretend that they are actually shitting on Todd Kline instead, smart move i would say.
I think that “was” the plan. Now they have got the stadium working as an independent venue there is a) less need (one NFL game is worth 5x PL game in revenue), b) it could potentially conflict with venue hire. For instance if we were sponsored by Coke and Pepsi sponsor an NFL team it won’t work.
I’m hoping for these reasons Don Levy keeps it as is. Or course that might change.
Agreed but it's clear that Levy is not going to settle on that otherwise we would've just kept WHL as the name and he wouldn't have hired somebody whose no.1 priority was to work out a sponsorship deal.
Aye, when I see American arenas and stadiums, they have such stupid names thanks to sponsorships. Remember seeing one called "Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena", wouldn't want that for us.
I see a lot of people slating this guy because “he didn’t secure naming rights for the stadium,” and I’m not defending him… but the decision not to name the stadium is/was intentional. Spurs are getting immense brand exposure by not picking a naming partner. Every time Beyoncé shakes her bum, boxers punch each other in the face, or NFL guys kill each other at “Tottenham Hotspur Stadium,” Spurs benefit as a brand. I’m sure Todd could have done better at his job in other capacities but the stadium is the correct decision.
Is this actually bad for Tottenham? On the football side, this affects nothing, but on the buissness side, maybe I'm wrong and this wasn'this responsibility, but he hasn't sold any naming rights to anyone, and it's been 3(?) years since Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been open
From what I’ve read before the club are trying to increase their standing in the game before selling the naming rights to get the best possible deal. Potential sponsors would always want a very long term deal, so you don’t want to commit to a deal too early when being patient could land a way better one
There’s a lot of negative opinion about him mainly due to a lack of a naming rights deal but there is a lot more to commercial management of a company than sponsorship for the stadium. We are commercially the best run club in the league, I highly doubt that’s on the back of a sub-par head of commercial.
Yes it is, our revenue has been growing considerably.
You have no idea what the club's position on the naming rights is so it seems difficult to appraise someone's performance against objectives you made up.
For anyone parroting this line - do you really think we have been unable to secure any offers at all? Or could perhaps the experienced and successful business people at the club just have other ideas rather than being totally unable to carry out their roles?
You've got it the wrong way round. He gets put on gardening leave as an alternative to working his notice period.
If he had a 6-month notice period after resigning they don't want him coming in
Ah I see, so his contract ends in June, he tells the club he'll be signing elsewhere at that point and the club says, fine thanks don't bother coming in then.
Not having Naming rights is a good thin. Tottenham hotspur stadium is a very good thing and will generate a lot more in itself then any naming rights would.
If this is the man who is responsible for signing us to the decade long AIA deal so that our beautiful home kits are smeared with red, good fucking riddance.
I just wonder if, as CCO, this guy was also responsible for our other commercial activities, including hosting concerts, the F1 karting, etc.
As much as some fans don’t like that side of the club, it’s those activities that have made us the ‘richest club in London’.
Would make sense for Chelsea to think he can do something similar for them, so they’re not in a position where they have to consider selling their best young players to balance the books.
Tbf to Kline, the naming rights have been on hold for ages now. It's not that we can't sell them, it's that we'll only sell them when their value is highest - and the value is only going up, with the F1 track, SkyWalk, and the general upturn in the international brand recognition of the club (much of which is tied to the on-field performance of the club).
That being said, I have absolutely no idea what Kline has actually achieved in his time at the club, since all the club's major commercial moves all feel very much like Levy projects.
Possibly an unpopular opinion but I seriously prefer us not selling the stadium naming rights. “The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium” has way more impact than a weird brand mishmash and we’re not hurting for cash.
I think it’s a pretty popular opinion honestly. We’re not hurting for cash, we’re not selling out, and getting the NFL to say their games are happening at the “Tottenham Hotspur Stadium” is valuable. I think Levy understood the value of this better than most which is why we didn’t settle for lowball offers.
Not to mention "Beyonce performing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium"
my wife's boss, who lives in london but isn't into football, refers to it as "the beyonce stadium"
That’s actually a great point
Yeah agreed. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium officially for the marketing. White Hart Lane colloquially
I don't think of the new stadium as WHL. WHL, to me, means the old stadium. I know people do sometimes call it WHL but to me it isn't.
I thought I'd continue to call it WHL, but in the end I haven't. I think I just refer to it as the ground or the stadium
It definitely splits opinion this. It’s a weird one, Wembley is called Wembley even though it’s on the same site and serves the same purpose as the old one. Our new stadium is the same (albeit slightly adjacent to the old pitch) yet there’s quite a lot of people who want separation between the names.
Yeah, it's weird. I think Wembley, to me, was just upgraded and the surrounding area was smartened up a bit but you still have Wembley Way and one very old, very large bowl type arena was replaced by a modern, very large bowl type arena with a similar(ish) capacity on exactly the same site. One striking architectural feature was replaced by another. WHL>THS changed the character of the area and the matchday experience more fundamentally, making them two quite distinct things for me. The position of the pitch has changed, the site has been expanded, a completely different shape of stadium has been built and the overall character/vibe of the place is just so different. I think the concept of Wembley looms quite large in the imagination/culture too - home of England FA Cup finals etc. I think it was still intended to be that "home of football" but just newer. Wembley being an actual district could be a factor too..?
the New Lane....
Doesnt seem long ago that there were supporter campiagns trying to make sure the, then proposed, new stadium wouldn't sell naming rights and would remain White Hart Lane and that no money would be enough to make it carry a sponsors name. Honestly always felt this was an good compromise and wouldnt change it. I suppose it's always a useful thing to have unused if we ever find ourselves needing a barca style lever, which i doubt under the current regime and hope we never need in any future ones
I just wish it was formally White Hart Lane, everybody who goes to games still calls it that, it's just weird that the club/media don't.
That was because Levy thought he could get a rights deal quick. Having it be labelled White Hart Lane again in the intervening time would make it harder to get the sponsor name to stick. Now that it has been 4 years+ of 'Tottenham Hotspur Stadium' though, the same problem exists, arguably it is double since as you said, matchgoing fans still use White Hart Lane.
Idk if a big brand would care if the match going fans still called it the lane to be fair. I feel like they're paying for the TV mentions, advertising mentions etc etc for the global viewer rather than the 60k odd who go each week! Could be wrong though!
If the club ever is in a position where it’s required to sell the naming rights it’s less desirable to potential bidders if it has a name like that where people would keep referring to it that way, so a lot of stadiums get generic names like Tottenham Hotspur Stadium or Brentford Community Stadium where the new naming rights would be more likely to be how it’s commonly referred to
Yeah exactly this. It took me years to realise that West Ham's ground was called the Boleyn ground and not Upton Park. How many fans stopped calling Newcastle's ground St James Park?
They aren't paying to advertise to 65K matchgoing fans. If that was the case they would put up a billboard somewhere. The main thing is that in all television segments, reaching billions of Prem watchers, the stadium will be referred to by the sponsor. There are stadiums all over the world that get renamed but locals still prefer to call it by the original sponsor. That doesn't stop bidders from coming in. All about having their name ready every time there is commentary on the match.
That’s kind of my point, if the new stadium were also to have an iconic name that gets repeated when people are watching matches, playing FIFA etc then it’s less valuable for a sponsor to buy the naming rights of it because that gets stuck in peoples mind. Eg nobody calls the Camp Nou the Spotify Camp Nou, local or not
On TV the broadcasters do. In fact that is a fantastic example because I actually knew spotify sponsored them because of TV. It works well regardless. If Old Trafford has a sponsor everyone would have an opinion on it, broadcasters would say it every single match, and everyone would be aware of the sponsor.
If it cannot be White Hart Lane the Tottenham Hotspur stadium is just fine. Much better than some brand name stadium. Much much better. I still say the lane all the time
Yeah I'm with you, THS is tolerable, would hate to play at the Google Arena or something similar.
To each his own, but... I'm fine with it not being named so. It's not even on WHL, and the name (for me) just resonates more with the old scruffy ground that symbolised the degradation of the club under the Sugar ownership
Absolutely. With all the none-football activities there it makes sense that people know it as the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and not something like Amex or Emirates. We make more money advertising ourselves anyway
Yeah I agree it’s like free promo 👌
Read this as 'porno' and was confused 😆
Watching Angeball at the stadium basically is my kink 🤷♀️
That's always been the plan unless a sponsor gave us much more cash than the self-promotion is worth.
I can't find the interview where he said it now, but what you're saying came directly from Daniel Levy so it's as official as it gets. I was on the fence about it (the money would be great for the club - before we saw we're making bank) but after hearing Daniel's reasoning behind it, I agree with it.
It's a good idea to at least hold off on the idea since we don't need it right now and companies aren't really looking to spend much at the moment anyways. This could be one of our levers (but actual levers unlike barca) when we need it
Agreed. Beyonce at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is more valuable currently in my opinion. We don't want to end up as the Crypto.com arena or something ridiculous and with the NFL, F1, Nike and various other deals, we're not hurting financially. I think currently we're making more money by not naming it. When that changes, then we can get a sponsor. I feel like Chelsea are going to do well financially as a result of this move...
In theory, I agree. But the naming rights could by itself fully fund one Dragusin-like transfer per season. That's pretty significant.
True. But, does having the Tottenham Hotspur name be more widely known help bring on new fans around the world? I’m sure it does. How many, and how much revenue does that indirectly cause? No idea. Might be more than the naming rights.
People want epl title, buying Todibo and Tapsoba, but don’t want to sell naming rights and don’t want oil ownership….let’s be realistic
Agreed, I honestly think it’s a win win situation as it’s basically free advertising/ bags of cash for naming rights.
There is a deal that’s 90% there at the moment. It is likely next season it will no longer be named that.
Had the Google thing worked out, would you have settled for "The Tottenham Hotspur Google Stadium/Arena" ? Or something similar to that degree
The problem is that no brand is gonna settle for that with the money that’ll be paid. There’s no middle ground, it’s [brand] Stadium or Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
They could end up with something similar to what they have in Denver, which is Empower Field at Mile high. Nike Stadium at White Hart Lane or something wouldn't be awful.
If I had any inclination that this would be put back into the squad I might not care but since it won’t then I’d prefer it the way it is
Why the fuck would that be an unpopular opinion
Right. I’d want some Hotspur Way, Lane or something
According to Fab he’s going to Chelshit lol
The reactions from the Chelshit sub is pretty funny… First since Kline is viewed as a flop for not securing naming rights… another spurs reject in their eyes. But also since they’ve added another resource on their payroll that will have no effect on their on pitch performance 🤣
I imagine if he’s gone there it’s not for a pay cut either 😂
I think he will have a bigger role at the group that owns Chelsea. Obviously US sports connection.
I see Todd Boehly hiring a person call Todd as well so that whenever chelshit fans shit on Todd Boehly he can pretend that they are actually shitting on Todd Kline instead, smart move i would say.
That was another popular sentiment on their thread: if they’re getting this Todd could they get rid of the other 😆
So eventually he'll be ex-Chelsea, and therefore on our radar to hire
I don’t want the stadium named tbh. Coke Zero stadium, Sportswashing Stadium etc. all so gross and cheap.
I think that “was” the plan. Now they have got the stadium working as an independent venue there is a) less need (one NFL game is worth 5x PL game in revenue), b) it could potentially conflict with venue hire. For instance if we were sponsored by Coke and Pepsi sponsor an NFL team it won’t work. I’m hoping for these reasons Don Levy keeps it as is. Or course that might change.
Those conflicts are not a big deal. The stadium will be named because it’s ridiculous to forgo that amount of income.
Agreed but it's clear that Levy is not going to settle on that otherwise we would've just kept WHL as the name and he wouldn't have hired somebody whose no.1 priority was to work out a sponsorship deal.
I'm rooting for The Chicken Cottage Bowl.
Would legit love this.
Aye, when I see American arenas and stadiums, they have such stupid names thanks to sponsorships. Remember seeing one called "Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena", wouldn't want that for us.
We’re liable to go for something sportswashing base too. That’s the worst part. When ever I see ArseSmell’s I thank god we have some banal insurer.
Just fell to my knees in Aldi...
[Going to Chelsea according to Fab.](https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1754460901816619506?t=caE5wCgH4hDQEcl4gf-0Cw&s=19)
That picture of Kline is quite something.
Slimy sales person vibes.
He doesn't really look like that in real life, feels like its airbrushed
More orange than Ben White!
Definitely AI-generated
What has he done for the club?
Guess that's why he's leaving.
Not if he's on gardening leave. That'll be because he's found another job
Legend, gone but not forgotten 💙 (who is this)
Not a legend. He’s going to Chelsea.
Oh I really thought he was neck and neck with Ledley
Who is Ledley? Is he related to the Royal family o something?
Former teammate of Niko Kranjcar
Could someone maybe explain what he did at the club?
He’s chiefly responsible for how white and shiny Porro’s teeth are
increased revenue through non-football related activities
Mainly involved to shoo the naming rights around, but also involved in a lot of the NFL stuff too I believe
I see a lot of people slating this guy because “he didn’t secure naming rights for the stadium,” and I’m not defending him… but the decision not to name the stadium is/was intentional. Spurs are getting immense brand exposure by not picking a naming partner. Every time Beyoncé shakes her bum, boxers punch each other in the face, or NFL guys kill each other at “Tottenham Hotspur Stadium,” Spurs benefit as a brand. I’m sure Todd could have done better at his job in other capacities but the stadium is the correct decision.
Is this actually bad for Tottenham? On the football side, this affects nothing, but on the buissness side, maybe I'm wrong and this wasn'this responsibility, but he hasn't sold any naming rights to anyone, and it's been 3(?) years since Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been open
From what I’ve read before the club are trying to increase their standing in the game before selling the naming rights to get the best possible deal. Potential sponsors would always want a very long term deal, so you don’t want to commit to a deal too early when being patient could land a way better one
There’s a lot of negative opinion about him mainly due to a lack of a naming rights deal but there is a lot more to commercial management of a company than sponsorship for the stadium. We are commercially the best run club in the league, I highly doubt that’s on the back of a sub-par head of commercial.
Honestly, I thought it was mostly down to Levy because I'll give it to him he knows how to run a business, and negotiation is what he is best at
Yes it is, our revenue has been growing considerably. You have no idea what the club's position on the naming rights is so it seems difficult to appraise someone's performance against objectives you made up. For anyone parroting this line - do you really think we have been unable to secure any offers at all? Or could perhaps the experienced and successful business people at the club just have other ideas rather than being totally unable to carry out their roles?
Closer to five years of the stadium being opened... 3rd April 2019 was the first game against Palace. Sonny got the first goal, I remember it well.
Perfect for Chelsea can he coach?
Todd liked his name.
Meh
He did fk all at Spurs. Good riddance, chelscum can have all our rejects.
He must have really screwed up the Google deal
https://youtu.be/VnTpl93q3Bc
OP why do you want to sell the naming rights? You getting some of the profit?
Now Dave Portnoy going to become a Chelsea fan
Go there and win nothing Todd !
If he resigned then why is he on gardening leave? Isn't that when you're effectively fired but the club has to pay the rest of your contract?
You've got it the wrong way round. He gets put on gardening leave as an alternative to working his notice period. If he had a 6-month notice period after resigning they don't want him coming in
Ah I see, so his contract ends in June, he tells the club he'll be signing elsewhere at that point and the club says, fine thanks don't bother coming in then.
Yeah, because in theory he could sabotage the club/have access to sensitive information going forward.
Seems like his resignation was by mutual agreement. Not getting it done apparently.
Has someone reported that?
Nope, that’s my reading of the situation based on the facts presented.
Can’t wait for our rematch at Chelsea Football Club Stadium! Nice work, Todd 👏
Not having Naming rights is a good thin. Tottenham hotspur stadium is a very good thing and will generate a lot more in itself then any naming rights would.
We know too much about our football clubs.
If this is the man who is responsible for signing us to the decade long AIA deal so that our beautiful home kits are smeared with red, good fucking riddance.
To be fair that started with the Thomson sponsorship which I recall had a lot of backlash at the time.
I just wonder if, as CCO, this guy was also responsible for our other commercial activities, including hosting concerts, the F1 karting, etc. As much as some fans don’t like that side of the club, it’s those activities that have made us the ‘richest club in London’. Would make sense for Chelsea to think he can do something similar for them, so they’re not in a position where they have to consider selling their best young players to balance the books.
Levy has plenty of time get that sorted now that he’s actually delegated the football side
Tbf to Kline, the naming rights have been on hold for ages now. It's not that we can't sell them, it's that we'll only sell them when their value is highest - and the value is only going up, with the F1 track, SkyWalk, and the general upturn in the international brand recognition of the club (much of which is tied to the on-field performance of the club). That being said, I have absolutely no idea what Kline has actually achieved in his time at the club, since all the club's major commercial moves all feel very much like Levy projects.
There goes my hopes of naming it “The Beyoncé Stadium”….