Newcastle United are preparing for their next big commercial move with talks underway on a near-£300million deal, SportEarly has learned.
The agreement, which would replace the Fun88 deal ended a year early, would likely include a front-of-shirt sponsorship tie-in as well as a myriad of other branding rights, including an agreement that covers the Darsley Park training complex.
Sources have told Football Insider that talks have begun on a replacement deal and the club are confident of securing an agreement worth four times more than the previous one.
The Fun88 tie-up was worth £6.5m-a-year, but is set to be put in the shade by the new record-breaking agreement being worked on by club chiefs.
It is almost certain that the show-stopping deal will be with one of the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s blue-chip businesses.
Analysts have said that an announcement is expected ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, with next summer touted as a likely time.
Ben Peppi, commercial expert and head of sports services at JMW Solicitors, told Football Insider: “I’d suggest over a 10-year deal we’re looking in the region of £20-25m. If it’s significantly inflated, we could be talking £30m-plus, and I think we are definitely looking at an associated-party deal.
““I certainly think that this deal will be announced next summer. It seems like the stars are aligning towards that.”
Newcastle are desperate to boost their commercial income in order to unlock the near-limitless spending power of PIF, who bought 80 per cent of the club in October last year.
The Premier League has since introduced Fair Market Value assessment in response to fears that PIF could use their £500billion investment portfolio to artificially inflate the Premier League club’s commercial revenue.
United already announced what was described as a “record-breaking partnership” with Noon.com that is worth £7.5m.
Noon.com’s sleeve partner deal is bigger than the current main sponsorship deal.
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