naming of the ground

[mattjpa]

I hate sponsorship, bollocks to the extra cash. put it in context, we could sell the name of the ground for 5m a year and end up playing at Tampax Park for the next 5years. Were just about to finish paying the fat end of 25m for Charles F'King N'Zogbia!
I suggest before we start whoring out our last few elements of history and sanctity we put some people in place who can make efficient use of the meager resources we already have available...

[fbriai]

Why though.  Playing devil's advocate it's the same stadium the same colours the same team. Just someone paying a lot of money to call it something else for a few seasons.  To everyone else in football it will still be villa park. To us it will.  It will just have a silly name in exchange for a fortune for a little while.

Where do you draw the line though, ozzjim? Is everything up for sale? If so, at what point does Aston Villa F.C. just become any other commercial enterprise?

[saunders_heroes]

Can't see us demanding big money for naming rights when we're in the Championship.

[kippaxvilla2]

If it brings in revenue for another quality signing like Nzogbia then I'm all for it.

[Dave]

Can't see us demanding big money for naming rights when we're in the Championship.

This is the main issue. As everyone says, nobody will call it anything other than Villa Park, whatever new name it's given. So which company is going to spend a ton of money on giving something a name that hardly anybody will use?

And so if the club isn't really getting much money, what's the point?

[KevinGage]

The level of income it could realistically bring in wouldn't make a whole pile of difference to us, so it's a no for me.

If a potential bidder was offering north of £40 million per year, it might be a dilemma.

[auntiesledd]

If it brings in revenue for another quality signing like Nzogbia then I'm all for it.

Good point, well made kipp. So I'm with Brian - mainly because everybody else seems to be.

[saunders_heroes]

Can't see us demanding big money for naming rights when we're in the Championship.

This is the main issue. As everyone says, nobody will call it anything other than Villa Park, whatever new name it's given. So which company is going to spend a ton of money on giving something a name that hardly anybody will use?

And so if the club isn't really getting much money, what's the point?

Agreed. Naming rights only really work with new stadiums anyway. It'll always be Villa Park, but even if we were willing to change it no one would be willing to pay big bucks for a Championship club.

[castlefields_villan]

Aston Villa, Villa Park, Holte End, claret and blue – all untouchable.

This

[Percy McCarthy]

If we get the type of owners I'm hoping for they'll have to invent some bullshit naming deal in order to blag their way around Financial Fair Play to buy Messi, Suarez and Bale.

[Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle]

I'd like to argue about something as I'm a bit hungover but I agree with Brian.

Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle
News at Ten
Inebriated

[montague]

Villa Park sponsored by ...... would be ok

[peter w]

No, makes no difference. It will still be Villa Park to us but it would need to be a huge amount of money to change the name.

[CT]

Aston Villa, Villa Park, Holte End, claret and blue – all untouchable.

This

Yep, this for me too.

[Chico Hamilton III]

I can see multinationals climbing over each other to pay money to have their name associated with a club that has just dropped off the league table, is the current by-word for laughing stock and will be playing in the anonymous poor relation to the Premier League next season.