Tottenham Hotspur have recently held talks with Qatar Sports Investments over a potential minority investment but those talks did not include a potential deal for the stadium’s naming rights.
What’s the latest?
According to journalist Ben Jacobs, Daniel Levy has recently sat down with Nasser Al-Khelaifi to hold an exploratory meeting surrounding a potential stake in the north London club.
It is believed QSI want to invest in a Premier League side alongside their current ownership of the French giants, Paris Saint-Germain.
However, speaking on the Last Word on Spurs YouTube channel, Jacobs has claimed there were no discussions held over potentially including a deal for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium naming rights:
“First thing to say on the naming rights is that it was reportedly or allegedly close in October, November, December and now January.
“So, that already tells you that there is nothing yet ready for announcement or 100% formally in place, and I can also tell you that categorically nothing between QSI and Tottenham Hotspur has touched upon the naming rights for the stadium, either.”
The wait goes on
In the last few months, reports did emerge suggesting Spurs had held talks with Google over a potential deal to see the conglomerate take on the naming rights in N17.
However, since the reports surfaced in October, there has been very little to suggest these talks had been taken any further with the Lilywhites still looking for a deal.
Spurs have now been playing their football in the 62,000-seater stadium for almost four years now and the wait still goes on for an agreement to be made over the stadium naming rights.
On top of that, almost two years ago, Spurs appointed Todd Kline as their chief commercial officer in the hope that he could accelerate any potential deal for the naming rights of the stadium.
Kline arrived in north London on the back of securing an 18-year naming rights deal for the NFL side, the Miami Dolphins, worth a believed £180m.
But the wait is seemingly going to continue for Spurs fans to see any further investment arrive in north London through a naming rights deal.
It is almost hard to believe that the Spurs superiors would struggle to find a suitable investor to put their name on the stadium given how highly-rated the venue has been since its opening in 2019.
If it is a case of waiting for the best possible deal, many fans would understand, however, having now waited almost four years for a deal it does feel as if there has been opportunities missed to bring in some further revenue.
And it is interesting to hear Jacobs suggest the Qatari-based investors did not hold talks over a potential naming rights deal when they have shown similar at PSG with Qatar Airways sponsoring the club’s kits.