We still await an official announcement on the new state of the art Newcastle United training ground.
However, after almost five years under this club ownership, it is expected in the near future.
Earlier this year it was widely reported that the Newcastle United owners had finally decided on a site.
With this much anticipated state of the art Newcastle United training ground set to be put together up near the Airport. A site at Woolsington that the current owners are said to have agreed to buy from former NUFC owner Sir John Hall.
The more I read about it all, about the part a state of the art new Newcastle United training ground can play in help building NUFC into a major power, the more I am convinced that this is indeed the case.
The next question then is how can it be paid for?
The figure regularly quoted is a ballpark £200m, to produce a state of the art Newcastle United training ground that will deliver what is needed, elevating the club to another level and helping to attract and keep players. Something that will seriously add to the prestige of our football club.
I think the route is now clear on how this project can be funded, without the need to divert money away from spending on the squad, nor indeed any need for the Newcastle United owners to finance it themselves.
Exactly a week ago we had the club announcing a Newcastle United training ground sponsor for the current site.
An official club statement naming KNOX Hydration, who are a South African sports drinks company and are not in any way affiliated with the majority Newcastle United owners, the Saudi Arabia PIF.
It is a three year deal and sees KNOX Hydration become the first ever Newcastle United training ground sponsor. They also become the training kit sleeve sponsor. This three year deal is active from 1 July 2026.
After the club announcement, a media exclusive revealed just how much this deal is worth. Chris Waugh at The Athletic making public that it is an £18m deal, £6m a year.
It has been a regular puzzle for Newcastle United fans. With the club desperately needing to close the gap on the half dozen Premier League clubs who continue to have far higher revenues, why weren’t the Newcastle United owners looking at every possible avenue to bring in sponsors? With the training ground and training kit amongst those sponsorship deals that weren’t taken advantage of. It feels now as if things may well be finally kicking off.
Closing the gap on the Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal is still going to be a huge long-term challenge, but every journey starts with a single step.
The man from The Athletic detailing that this is only the beginning, with a series of other commercial deals set to follow.
Chris Waugh stating: “A more lucrative front-of-training-wear sponsor is still being sought and interest has been registered — KNOX will feature on the shirt sleeve, but not on the centre of the kit — as well, with Newcastle looking to rapidly grow their commercial income under David Hopkinson, the chief executive who arrived in September. This is the first sign of Hopkinson fulfilling the promise he made to pump-prime every potential revenue stream, with further deals set to follow.”
I think getting this three year deal for the current site, very much suggests a timeline whereby the new state of the art £200m (or so) Newcastle United training ground could be ready in 2029 when that newly announced deal ends.
If a prestigious best in the Premier League (best in the world?) new Newcastle United training ground is unveiled in 2029, I don’t then think it is a great leap of faith to believe that then it could be financed by a £20m per year sponsorship agreement across ten years.
If an outside company is prepared to pay £6m to sponsor the current training ground and have their name on the sleeve of the training kit, then surely £20m a year would be achievable to sponsor the world class one. Especially if you still include the training kit sleeve in the deal, or throw in the front of training kit. Whether an outside company or one affiliated to the Saudi Arabia PIF, I don’t see how the Premier League could argue £20m per year for such a deal wasn’t fair value.
That then leads me to think on about the really big one, a brand new Newcastle United stadium that would really help the club close the revenues gap on the usual suspects. A new far bigger stadium that is essential both for business and football/fan reasons. Bringing in far more cash and allowing far more fans to watch the team.
I look at Arsenal and they have effectively seen their stadium more than paid for by their Emirates sponsorship. The Gunners having had them as sponsors fully 20 years now, starting in 2006 and set to run until at least 2028. The current arrangement sees Emirates pay more than £50m a year to sponsor the stadium and front of shirt.
Is there any reason to think that potentially a brand new Newcastle United stadium could not be eventually paid for in a similar way over the course of twenty years or so? I don’t think it would be as simplistic as signing a 20 year deal now that would entirely pay for a new stadium. However, I do think that any plans for such a new NUFC stadium could see the Newcastle United owners have as one of the big cornerstones of financing it, maybe say a ten year initial stadium/shirt sponsorship deal that would provide a serious chunk of the overall funding needed (unlike the Mike Ashley model, where he gave his own retail company free sponsorship of St James’ Park, the Sports Direct Arena).
We are all naturally desperate to see these official announcements arrive, the Newcastle United owners making public their plans for these huge infrastructure steps forward. In the meantime though, I think it gives confidence to see more clearly how the plan could all come together, including realistically how it could all be funded.