Kieran Maguire shares ‘huge’ Leeds United verdict after £135m deal struck
If Elland Road’s name rights are sold, Leeds United’s owners risk upsetting supporters.
The financial expert Kieran Maguire, who discussed the benefits and drawbacks of renaming Elland Road exclusively with Football Insider, holds that opinion.
A stunning £135 million was disclosed last month by 49ers Enterprises as part of a 10-year renewal to their NFL stadium naming rights arrangement.
After Elland Road is renovated or enlarged, the US group—which also owns the majority of Leeds United—may try to match the terms of that agreement.
Although Elland Road would witness a name change for the first time in its history, the agreement would probably bring in millions of pounds for the club.
The value of a naming rights agreement would be diminished, according to Maguire, because Leeds supporters would still refer to the stadium as Elland Road.
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The difficulty will be that Leeds supporters will always refer to Elland Road as such, Maguire said to Sean Fisher of Football Insider, “even though a naming rights deal for Elland Road has got to be conceivable.”
“We’ve seen at other clubs such as Bolton – their ground is repeatedly referred to as the Reebok Stadium despite it having been renamed a few times.
“The same thing has happened at Coventry and other clubs – trying to get the name of a sponsor into the public consciousness is very difficult.
“This also tends to have a huge impact on the price that can be generated as a result.
“So there’s no downside to calling it something else unless Leeds take a similar route to that of Mike Ashley when he tried to enforce the Sports Direct sponsorship at Newcastle, which went down like a lead balloon with fans.
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Last night, Rodon started for Leeds for the 24th time in a row in all competitions as they defeated Plymouth Argyle to advance to the FA Cup fifth round.
Similar to the opening game at Elland Road, Leeds’ opponents held them to a 1-1 tie after 90 minutes, but in the end, their depth proved to be decisive as they emerged victorious 4-1 in extra time.
With the start of the New Year, Leeds has won seven of its eight games, and Rodon has been a major factor in that success. As a result, there is rising demand for a permanent contract with Leeds.
BBC pundit Jonathan Pearce believes he was informed by someone at the club yesterday about how brilliant he has been during his stint in the side, as he was speaking live on air during Leeds’ triumph last night.
Rodon hailed by someone at Leeds
“Back it goes to Joe Rodon,” he remarked. “Someone from Leeds told me earlier today how great he has been for them so far while on loan from Tottenham. started 24 straight games, and they informed me that he performed admirably in the final 23 of them.
Although Rodon may not have had his best performance in a Leeds shirt last night, the defensive conditions were undoubtedly the worst anyone has ever faced.
Nonetheless, the 26-year-old is just getting better in the league and has already this season been called “too good” for the Championship on a few times.
Daniel Farke has previously acknowledged that Leeds is quietly trying to recruit him permanently in the summer, which would be a great move for the team regardless of the level they play in.
With so much regular football, Rodon is obviously enjoying his time at Leeds, and his on-field performances very much reflect this.