Everton and Dan Friedkin get £50m update from Chelsea after in-person talks
Today at 03:25 PM
With Dan Friedkin all but guaranteed to take over Everton, attention will now turn to turning around the club’s finances just as much as their performances on the pitch.
Winless in their opening five Premier League matches in 2024-25, Everton are in dire need of something to be optimistic about – and Friedkin represents just that.
The AS Roma owner was always seen as among the most credible options to acquire the Merseyside club at a pivotal moment in its history as it wrestles with PSR and the transition away from Goodison Park.
As well as reducing the club’s debt burden, Friedkin will also pay several million to fund the final touches needed at Bramley Moore Dock, the new 52,850-seater stadium they will move into next season.
Goodison Park’s significance to Everton fans goes well beyond merely its financial utility, with the famous old ground having been the club’s spiritual home for over a century.
But in terms of the income it generates, the stadium is among the least efficient in the Premier League, with less than £1m per match coming through the turnstiles.
Bramley Moore Dock is expected to generate perhaps twice as much cash in ticket sales – but the benefits to the club are far more diverse than that crude calculation.
And now, with Friedkin’s takeover imminent, the club can concentrate on ensuring the transition to the new stadium is as smooth as possible.
Bramley Moore Dock’s naming rights: Qatar Airways out of the race?
For some time now, an agency commissioned by Everton to search for a naming rights partner for Bramley Moore Dock has been surveying the market for an appropriate candidate.
One blue-chip company linked has been Qatar Airways, with soon-to-be former owner Farhad Moshiri reportedly having held talks in-person talks with the airline’s representatives in Doha last year.
However, as relayed by sports business journalist Łukasz Bączek, Qatar Airways are now in talks with Chelsea over a £50m-a-year front-of-shirt sponsorship deal.
If they were to strike a partnership with the West London club, industry experts say it is overwhelmingly unlikely that they would also ally themselves with a potential rival in Everton.
Everton have already struck several ‘founder partner’ deals for the Bramley Moore Dock stadium but a naming rights partner remains the one element missing.
How much are Everton’s naming rights worth?
Tottenham’s failure to secure a £20m-a-year naming rights deal at their world-class stadium has tempered expectations in the naming rights market among English clubs.
What’s more, it is a saturated market at present.
As well as Everton and Spurs, there may well be naming rights opportunities at West Ham, Man United, Leeds United and indeed Chelsea in the near future.
However, former Everton benefactor Alisher Usmanov’s paid £30m for first refusal for Everton’s rights, suggesting that there is an appetite for the Bramley Moore Dock branding privileges.
A deal of around £8-10m per year may be realistic.
