Manchester City Get Monster Stadium Naming Rights Deal

It looks like the Sheikh's from up north have secured even more money for their club. A deal to sell the naming rights to City of Manchester Stadium could net the club as much as £150m over the course of the deal. That just helps bring them close to the financial fair-play rules so they can continue spending even when the rules go into effect.

Manchester City are close to announcing a record sponsorship deal to allow Etihad Airways, the airline owned by the Abu Dhabi government, to take naming rights for the stadium in an agreement that will be a significant boost to the club's attempts to fall in line with Uefa's financial fair-play rules (FFP).

The deal will be confirmed at a news conference at Eastlands on Friday, with the club potentially in line to bank well in excess of £100m over the course of a long‑term arrangement.

The details have not been disclosed but City's new position within the game, backed by the enormous wealth and ambition of the Abu Dhabi United Group and their involvement in the Champions League for the first time, means they could bank an estimated £10-£15m a year from the airline and possibly even more.

The report goes on to say that the deal will be subject to UEFA approval. Because of ownership's ties to the airline, UEFA will have to approve the deal as being at fair market value and not an inflated prive to circumvent the FFP. It would be a surprise if they denied it, fair or no, but that's not that important. There are loopholes in the FFP and teams will continue to spend big.

Deals like this just make it all the more important for Tottenham to sort out their stadium situation. White Hart Lane is an amazing place, but I think that we all know at this point that the club needs a new stadium that allows them to compete with the top clubs. We need a stadium that holds more people, that has more amenities, more sponsorship opportunities. We need to bring in more money, not only so we can pay transfer fees, but more importantly, so we can pay the wages of top players.

With City bringing in more revenue with this new goal, getting a new stadium for Spurs becomes even more vital than it already was. Last season was a failure for the club, not because of the last season swoon or missing out on the Champions League, but because the new stadium wasn't sorted out. It needs to be done and it needs to be done soon or the club will remain in a state of flux, falling further and further behind its competitors.