'You can't' - Why Newcastle United don't have a training kit or ground sponsor

'Commercial deals don't just fall from trees'.

You've heard it, I've heard it, you might even have felt it a little yourself - why haven't Newcastle United got a training kit, training ground, even St James' Park sponsor, through the doors yet?

In a world of PSR woe - just ask Elliot Anderson his thoughts on football's financial roadmap - commercial is king. The need to boost revenues, in any way possible, a key cornerstone of any Premier League football club's strategy.

Newcastle have, so far, boosted their own revenues, and helped Eddie Howe's spending power, with football merit - cup runs and reaching the Champions League - savvy market operating - the above mentioned Anderson deal and that of trade-in, trade-out 'commodity' Yankuba Minteh - and also signing a collection of the most lucrative deals the football club has ever penned, with the likes of Adidas, Noon and Sela.

But when is enough, enough? Never, it seems in the bottomless pit of football finance - and Newcastle's need for more, with football project progress a must, only increases by the minute, month or transfer window.

NewcastleWorld sat down with Newcastle United's Chief Commercial Officer Peter Silverstone to discuss all things commercial with the Magpies.

He was under no illusions about the task at hand - grow and keep growing - but positive about the landscape ahead, and what has been achieved to date.

"Everyone thinks that because some clubs have a training ground sponsor that they fall from the trees," said Silverstone, to a backdrop of the flashy, new commercial venture, St James' STACK.

"You have to pick the right partner, get the right values, the right fit and it takes time. But obviously my job and the job of the team behind me is to maximise the opportunity in every area, whether that's retail, whether that's media, whether that's membership, whether that's retail, whether that's partnerships."

It's understood Newcastle are close to announcing yet more commercial revenue boosting deals, some old, some new.

When asked how close, Silverstone said: "We're looking at all opportunities. I'm aware of what everyone thinks should or shouldn't be sold. I also know what we are working on and trying to deliver."

Maximising Newcastle’s ‘future value’

Silverstone, who has a successful body of work behind him, including at Premier League rivals Arsenal, also stressed the importance of making sure deals that are signed are done with the present and the future in mind - and that Newcastle must not undervalue itself now, and trade off their inevitable rising stock for immediacy.

"I've worked in sports, marketing sports, sponsorship for over 20 years. I've worked in the Premier League for 10 years. No sponsorship deal is easy, none. It doesn't matter if you're whatever club you are in the hierarchy of Premier League or European football.

"Every sponsorship deal takes time. It's about two businesses, two brands coming together and partnering and they don't just fall from trees.

"Our job is to make sure we now maximise the value and the future value of Newcastle United.

"We don't want to do deals at value now, where in one to two years when we get closer to our ambitions are undervalued.

"It's a fine balance but we need to find the right partners at the right value and other clubs are trying to do the same.

"It's a really competitive landscape. We have some very unique assets, Stack is one of them. We have a beer partner which is now our beer partner for the stadium and this venue.

"We have another couple of partners where the integration will be with both the venue, stadium and the venue. So Stack is providing sponsorship inventory, look SELA is a part of this and SELA obviously who create events and destinations, spectacular events and destinations in Saudi Arabia and now they've branched out globally to LA, they will be part of this experience as well which again is more value to sell to sponsors and partners which will differentiate us from, the 19 other clubs in the Premier League who are all chasing the same ambitions and dreams and the same sponsors."

‘Interest’ in training kit and training ground deals

Silverstone admits there has been interest in taking on those kind of deals at Newcastle - but others, including Adidas, have been prioritised.

When asked if anyone had expressed an interest in training kit and training ground sponsorship, he said: "Yeah, absolutely. It's about what you've got to prioritise as well. You can't go after everything at once. So you've got to prioritise an incredible kit launch with Adidas and it’s maximising that opportunity, the opening of STACK, which is taking hundreds of people, a huge amount of time and effort to get this delivered by the beginning of the season. So everything takes time. We're growing truly, steadily and trying to maximise all the opportunities you've mentioned and others."

The need to continue to grow

So where is the club at right now?

Revenues are definitely on the upward trajectory, in fact, they're flying higher than ever before. From a first season, post-takeover base of around £180m, revenues for 2022/23 grew to around £250m. Chief executive Darren Eales predicts they will burst through £300m for 2023/24.

While those numbers are impressive, they're dwarfed by everyone else in the Premier League's new 'big seven'.

For reference, a comparable club in terms of size, stature and ambitions - Tottenham Hotspur - had revenues of £549m, up from £444m in 2022.

Silverstone said: "We continue to grow, we've got a long runway, we're making incredible progress, this is another sign of progress.

"We have our temporary retail store, which is doing incredible business but is the precursor for what's going to be another best-in-class investment in the new store, which again leads to more commercial revenues.

"We continue to grow, grow both from a resource perspective but ultimately what's most important from a revenue perspective, because every penny we generate is spent on the pitch, both men's and women's teams and ensuring that we can compete at the top of all our respective divisions."

Newcastle United playing ‘catch up’

Playing catch up is a phrase Newcastle fans are used to, but at least they're on the right path, which can't be said for their near 15 years of stagnation under Mike Ashley - a cost still, sadly, being felt today.

Silverstone said: "It's (reaching even Spurs levels of revenue) not going to happen overnight.

"We're playing catch-up, that's for sure. Being in Japan and seeing the passion of that fan base and the intensity of that fan base, I wish we could have been doing that … The fans that had the Shola Ameobi shirt from 26 years ago, if only we'd engaged with them over the last 26 years, we might not be having to catch up so rapidly and that fan base might be slightly bigger but now our job is to grow that fan base internationally and yes, we're catching up.

"The time line to catching up is … on the pitch. I think we're doing an incredible job on the pitch. It takes time to catch up with the speed on the pitch because I think the job Eddie and the football team are doing it at breakneck speed. We're trying to catch up but have no time limit on the pitch."