£250K PRICE FOR NAME

2 March 2005

Developers of Swansea's new football and rugby stadium have put a £250,000 price tag on its naming rights. The consortium behind the £27 million stadium are inviting tenders from companies and hope to have a main sponsor in place by June 30 - a few weeks before it is expected to open.

Bosses say a number of well-known companies have already been in talks.Rumours of possible names have been circulating in fan's circles but nothing solid has emerged.Brewer Scottish Courage, which makes John Smith's bitter, has been in talks over supplying the stadium's bars but played down talk of naming the new ground.

The deal for naming rights is understood to include a range of different sponsorship opportunities ranging from £5,000 upwards. The entire package is worth £500,000 a year.It includes everything from on-stadium branding and on-pitch advertising to billboard advertising and road signs around the ground.

A specialist company, Bastion, has been brought in to get the best deal for the clubs and the council. It has already worked with Watford and Coventry football clubs in marketing their grounds.

The ground at Morfa originally had the working name of White Rock although this was dropped last year.

Ashley Donlan, Bastion's chief executive, said he was confident they could help secure a top name for Swansea's new home of sport.

He said: "The new stadium features some of the best facilities outside the FA Premiership and is the perfect home for two of Wales's best sides.

"With more than 500,000 passionate fans expected to watch the Ospreys and the Swans next season, we're looking to work with the right brand to ensure success both on and off the field.

"This is a huge opportunity for a major brand to really work with two highly ambitious clubs and become part of the city's social fabric.

"Major work on the 20,000 seat stadium is finished with specialists now being brought into fit out the facility and to seed the pitch.

The stadium will be home to both Swansea City Football Club and the Neath Swansea Ospreys. It will also host music concerts and other events.

Mr Donlan said: "We've worked extremely hard to get this right, from the state-of-the-art pitch to providing fans with a great match experience."

The first football ground in the UK to be named after its sponsor was Scarborough's stadium named after the frozen chip company McCain. Bolton Wanderers has the Reebok Stadium while Conference side York City has just renamed its ground Kit-Kat in a £100,000 sponsorship deal with the chocolate bar manufacturer