0% Villa (yet) - The Sports Direct Arena

[Concrete John]

We may not like agents, but we have to deal with them.

We may not like Sky, but they're a fact of being in the top division.

We may not like the attitude of the modern footballer, but we need them to compete.

And I view the naming of the stadium in a similar way - a necessary evil.  Given the choice of playing at Villa Park and never being in with a chance of winning a trophy or playing at 'Nokia Park' and winning the FA Cup, then I know what gets my vote.

And yes, I'll still call it Villa Park as well.   

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

The amount of money brought in surely can't be a significant amount in football terms, in which case, just stick with the name it's had throughout history.

[pauliewalnuts]

Man Citeh certainly did that with the naming rights for their stadium.

You're telling me that Ashley is going to give an astronimical amount of money to the club he owns to get round the soon to be new financial regulations?

Ashley wants out of there if he could get a buyer.  This stunt is no more than a poster saying 'advertise your company here'.

Quite right.

It's nothing to do with fair play - Ashley wants to take money out, not put it in, see how much of the Carroll money was pocketed, for example - it's about Ashley getting one of his companies to publicise the other one.

[jonzy85]

The fact of the matter is that we will probably have to do this at some point, just to stay in the Premier League.

[pauliewalnuts]

The fact of the matter is that we will probably have to do this at some point, just to stay in the Premier League.

How do you work that out?

[jonzy85]

The fact of the matter is that we will probably have to do this at some point, just to stay in the Premier League.

How do you work that out?

Eventually all the rest of the clubs will do the same and if we dont follow suit, we will be left behind.

[Nev]

One step nearer to the Sports Direct Mags V Vodaphone Manchester.

[BedsVillain]

I think for £200m I'd put up with going to the new 'Genting Casino Arena'

[philthebar]

No, no, no.  As other posters have said it is designed to bring (even) more money into the game.

What we need is a reduction of money.

Oh how I yearn for the day that a Premiership club goes to the wall and is treated as most other companies are and forced out of business.  (not like the banks or the Greeks) Only then will the clubs start to see sense.

[DeKuip]

The fact of the matter is that we will probably have to do this at some point, just to stay in the Premier League.

In which case I'd rather us go down.  Football still exists outside the Greed League, and is still be enjoyed by the fans who go to these games.
Would you honestly want Villa Park renamed just so a few more average footballers can have even more money - as that's where it would go. Bigger cars outside bigger mansions.

[Ad@m]

No, no, no.  As other posters have said it is designed to bring (even) more money into the game.

What we need is a reduction of money.

Oh how I yearn for the day that a Premiership club goes to the wall and is treated as most other companies are and forced out of business.  (not like the banks or the Greeks) Only then will the clubs start to see sense.

It won't make a difference - look at what's happened to the likes of Portsmouth, Leeds, Sheff Weds, etc.  All gone to the brink and everyone else has carried on as normal because "it won't happen to them".

The only way things will change is when money is forceably removed from the game.  The bulk of the money comes from TV companies who will keep paying it as long as there are millions of people around the world who want to watch football.

The only way I can see it changing is the way F1 changed.  The amount of money got so ridiculous it led to an uncompetitive sport and the punters started switching off as a result.  They they had to enforce caps on expenditure to make the sport more competitive to try to get the fans back.

We've got a long way to go with football though.  If you look at the highest paid sports stars in the world there aren't too many footballers up there.  Given the global appeal of football I think it's going to get worse before it gets better.

[Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle]

I'm waiting for Small Heath Investment Technology to get a sponsonship deal for St Andrews.

[NeilH]

One step nearer to the Sports Direct Mags V Vodaphone Manchester.

I joked to a friend today that this kind of scenario could happen.

What worries me is that in some Premiership boardroom somewhere in the UK right now there is a greasy haired marketing man doing a powerpoint presentation on this very subject.

[The Laughing Policeman]

Apparently Ashley is offering the naming rights to increase income to be spent on players. Quite admirable, until you hear that the rights are on offer at £8-10 million a year. He'll get some quality players with that sort of money on offer.

Would I be happy with Villa Park being renamed?
If it was a company with a high international reputation that isn't likely to bring the clubs name into disrepute and if the price was around £20 million a year then I could live with it. One that springs to mind is The Jaguar, Land Rover Stadium.
It'll always be Villa Park to us though.

[NeilH]

Yes, but would you be happy if the Prem went one step further and it became?

The Genting Casino Villans vs The Vodafone Manchester Devils