Why Newcastle United’s new sleeve sponsorship deal with noon.com is a key milestone for the club
It would be fair to say that very few, if any, Newcastle United supporters knew who noon.com were prior to 7pm yesterday (June 27, 2022). However, after the Emirati digital retailer agreed a multi-year sponsorship deal with the club, the Middle Eastern business’ yellow and black patch will appear on the sleeve of Newcastle’s kits for the upcoming campaign. It is a deal which will bring in additional revenue to the club, but also holds a much greater significance.
Almost immediately following the Newcastle takeover, the Premier League announced much more stringent scrutiny of commercial deals – particularly those involving parties with existing relationships with clubs’ owners.
Championed by other clubs in the league, seemingly perturbed at Newcastle’s newfound wealth, the move was quite firmly directed at the new ownership at St. James’ Park, aiming to close off the legal loophole Manchester City’s owners had used to circumvent Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations through inflated sponsorship deals with other UAE businesses.
With Newcastle United now majority owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), that catalogue of potential partner companies was pages and pages thicker than even Manchester City had available, so the league felt it needed action.
It must be made very clear that the move did not prohibit Newcastle from striking deals with these sides – it simply meant they would have to undergo stringent scrutiny by the Premier League and could not be seen to be over fair market value. In isolation, the ruling seems reasonable, but given the protracted and controversial relationship between the Magpies and the league during the takeover process, it wasn’t hard for supporters to see how the Premier League could use this procedure to obstruct Newcastle’s growth and protect the status quo.
At least for now though, it seems that the Premier League has remained responsible in its new scrutiny, as the club formally announced it’s deal with noon.com – who alongside being a rapidly expanding e-retailer challenging the likes of Amazon in key Middle Eastern markets, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are also a company which the PIF has heavily invested in.
In successfully striking the noon.com deal – for an appropriately significant sum for a Premier League sleeve sponsorship – Newcastle United have proven to supporters that they can successfully navigate the new Premier League scrutiny. With a primary front of shirt sponsor expected to be up for negotiation next summer, this was the proof of concept that both the supporters and new ownership likely needed.