Does this man have no shame - St James Park renamed (Merged)

[AgerBomb22]

I live with a newcastle fan in my uni halls and he is not a happy person with the renaming of the stadium. I personally don't have a problem with it an can still see Newcastle fans calling it "St James' Park". But it does look like Ashley has oversteped the line this time

 

[Superphil]

Surely naming the stadium after the company will raise brand awareness and therefore revenue for Sports Direct, which might lead to more money from Ashley being pumped into the club?

Stop it, NSC is not the place for reasoned discussion.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

TBH everyone will still call it St James Park, only the telebox and papers will refer to it as the xxxxxx stadium.

 

[pigbite]

Like others have said - I don't see the problem. The ONLY people that will call the stadium the Sports Direct Arena are the media. Everyone else connected to football will know it as St James Park, and probably always will.

And before some smartarse asks the question - Yes, I would have still felt the same even if The Goldstone naming rights had been sold years ago. In fact lets face it, unless somebody specifically asks you "where do your team play", how often do use the name of the stadium? I'm not sure I've ever used the name "American Express Coummunity Stadium" unless specifically asked the proper name of our ground.

And would you reply with Falmer or the Amex or even the Albion? Not ... honest ...

 

[pasty]

And would you reply with Falmer or the Amex or even the Albion? Not ... honest ...

If I was asked the name of our stadium I would reply something along the lines of The American Express Community Stadium, but most poeple call it The Amex

 

[Falkor]

Stop it, NSC is not the place for reasoned discussion.

Its the biggest sport store company in England not really sure how they can get bigger or increase there revenue.

Ashley don't give a toss about that club hence the price tag when he wanted to sell 500mill for toon in the championship lol

 

[Acker79]

The fact that Madjeski put Autotrader all over Reading's shirts and Whelan called Wigan's ground the JJB Stadium wasn't about pushing their own businesses then

Maybe they were pushing their business, but, again, with wigan, Whelan helped build the ground, so it's not the same thing as what Ashley is doing (though, I think I said earlier, I don't personally have a problem with what ashley is doing, though I can appreciate newcastle fans do). A shirt sponsor (which changes comparatively frequently, and hasn't been autotrader since 1999) is also different to changing the name of the ground that you had nothing to do with the building of.

 

[Falkor]

I find it disappointing in a way that people are happy to just end 119 year history just like that.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I feel sorry for Ashley. He probably wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for the new financial fair play rules coming in.

Ordinarily, big clubs don't change the old stadium name but always sell sponsorship rights to a new stadium. That's bound to change with the new rules.

As for the timing, if he has to do it then surely there could not be a better time? They're in a Champions League spot and Ashley's stock is as high as it's been - the appointment of Pardew looks inspired, as does the sale of Carroll, Barton and Nolan (3 complete wankers if ever there were).

 

[perseus]

TBH everyone will still call it St James Park, only the telebox and papers will refer to it as the xxxxxx stadium.

Sportsdirect.com@St James' Park

Football Ground Guide: St James' Park, Newcastle United FC

Football Ground Guide: St James' Park, Exeter City Football Club. This includes stadium directions, car parking, maps, pubs, hotels, nearest train station, ground photos, reviews, plus lots more information of interest to the visiting supporter to Exeter City FC.

 

[Acker79]

As for the timing, if he has to do it then surely there could not be a better time? They're in a Champions League spot and Ashley's stock is as high as it's been - the appointment of Pardew looks inspired, as does the sale of Carroll, Barton and Nolan (3 complete wankers if ever there were).

But with man city, man utd and chelsea to play in their next three games, the fortunes of the club may well (probably will?) turn around on the pitch, and if it does, this will be seen as a key moment, I think. The anger from the name change will be compounded by losses to those three, and it may well be harder to turn around rather than just "alright, we have just lost our first three games this season, but look who they were against, now we are facing norwich, swansea and bolton. Let's get our season back on track"

 

[Norman Potting]

Have they showed hordes of fat geordies, sobbing and in T shirts on the TV yet?

 

[melias shoes]

I genuinely have no problem with this. Whats the problem? The fans will still call it St. James' Park and the club rakes in millions!

This.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

But with man city, man utd and chelsea to play in their next three games, the fortunes of the club may well (probably will?) turn around on the pitch, and if it does, this will be seen as a key moment, I think. The anger from the name change will be compounded by losses to those three, and it may well be harder to turn around rather than just "alright, we have just lost our first three games this season, but look who they were against, now we are facing norwich, swansea and bolton. Let's get our season back on track"

They may lose their games with Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea. They may not. No one knows. What is clear is that they are not expected by many people to win any of those games so some of the pressure is off. In fact, were they to lose all those games, a good case could be built for Newcastle United requiring the sums of money obtainable from selling the name of the stadium in order to build a team that can compete with their more accomplished rivals.