English Premier League soccer club Stoke City FC announced last week that the club’s Britannia Stadium is to be known as the bet365 Stadium from the start of the 2016/2017 season.
The club has entered into an initial six-year stadium naming rights agreement with the owner bet365, which has also extended its shirt sponsorship of the team for a further three years.
In addition, the club has also announced plans to redevelop the stadium by filling in the corner between the DPD and Marston’s Pedigree Stands, thereby creating an extra 1,800 seats and increasing ground capacity to 30,000. The work will be completed in time for the start of the 2017/2018 season.
In a club statement, Stoke City chief executive Tony Scholes said, “The Premier League is constantly evolving and to ensure that Stoke City remains as competitive as possible it’s important we explore as many ways as possible of generating revenue.
“As supporters are no doubt aware, the Britannia brand no longer exists and it was important that we attracted a new stadium naming rights partner.
“The Premier League is watched around the world and bet365 is a truly global company. We are delighted that we have been able to reach an agreement with them over the stadium naming rights for an initial six-year period, along with the extension of their shirt sponsorship agreement.
“bet365 are taking over from Britannia and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Britannia and the Co-operative Bank for their tremendous support over the past 19 years.
“We also felt the time was right to redevelop the corner of the ground between the DPD and Marston’s Pedigree Stands. Planning permission has been in place for some time but it was important we carried out the work when we felt the club was ready for an increase in seat capacity.”
The stadium, which became the club’s home when it moved from the Victoria Ground in 1997, will undergo a complete rebrand over the course of this summer in preparation for the start of the 2016/2017 season.
April 28, 2016
