Everton and West Ham on high alert as £251m news from Saudi Arabia confirmed

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The commercial departments of West Ham and Everton have taken note of a blockbuster deal sanctioned by a major Saudi Arabian company.

Everton are currently preoccupied with ticking the procedural boxes that will allow Dan Friedkin to finally take over the club, such as getting approval from the Premier League and financial conduct authority.

But once the American billionaire and AS Roma is in the Everton throne room, attention will turn once again to reducing the club’s debt, raising revenue, and ensuring a smooth transition to the new stadium.

At West Ham, rumours of takeover talks have reportedly been quashed by a senior source at the club, although David Gold’s daughter, Vanessa Gold, is looking to sell a chunk of her shares.

Unlike Everton, whose losses have been astronomical in recent years and left them at the mercy of the Premier League‘s PSR enforcers, West Ham have more or less broken even in the last two seasons.

But one thing the two clubs have in common is their target to raise commercial income, thereby increasing their freedom to manoeuvre in the transfer market in terms of both PSR and cash flow.

And the latest news from Saudi Arabia – via Spain – appears to be a positive omen on that front.

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Riyadh Air deal now the benchmark for Everton and West Ham

Both West Ham and Everton are currently among the Premier League clubs seeking a stadium naming rights deal.

But it is a saturated market at present, with Tottenham also in the market for a naming rights deal, as well as potential future competition from Man United and Newcastle United.

Some analysts have suggested that hype about the naming rights sector has been overblown in light of Spurs’ failure to secure a £20m-a-year deal for their 62,850-seater stadium in North London.

But there have been several positive developments in recent weeks.

In September, England rugby sealed a £100m, 10-year naming rights for the Twickenham stadium despite the fact the ground has gone unbranded since it opened over a century ago.

Now, Atletico Madrid have struck a landmark deal the Saudi airline Riyadh Air which, according to football business journalist Łukasz Bączek, could be worth as much as £251m over the next decade.

After Man City’s partially successful challenge to the Premier League‘s associated party and fair market value rules on commercial deals, both clubs will now be able to benchmark against the Riyadh Air deal.

The branding agreement is particularly significant given that it is not the first naming rights agreement struck by Atletico, with Wanda having previously held the rights for the Metropolitano Stadium.

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Naming rights: How much progress have Everton and West Ham made?

In Everton’s case, the club’s commercial department have engaged an agency to look for a naming rights partner for the Bramley Moore Dock ground, which they will move into in time for 2025-26.

Everton have spoken to Qatar Airways, with soon-to-be-former owner Farhad Moshiri have held talks with the Gulf state’s flag carrier in Doha in 2022.

There are also suggestions that Toyota could be a naming rights option for Everton due to Dan Friedkin’s links with the Japanese automotive firm and their long history of deals in the naming rights sector.

West Ham’s situation is a little more complex, with the London Legacy Development Corporation entitled to the first £4m of any naming rights deal and 50 per cent thereafter.

The Hammers have previously held talks with Allianz, who – like Toyota – have a niche in the naming rights market, sponsoring Twickenham, as well as Bayern Munich and Juventus’s stadiums.

West Ham have also had discussions with the likes of Vodafone in the past, but there have been few updates in recent years.