Season › 2022-23 › News The Rumour Mill Qatar Airways in talks over naming rights Michael Kenrick | 07/01/2023 23comments | Jump to last The Daily Mail is claiming that Farhad Moshiri held talks with executives from Qatar Airways about securing naming rights for the new Everton Stadium when he was in the Middle East for the World Cup last month. The club has been looking for new sponsors to pick up the naming rights for the new stadium under construction at Bramley-Moore Dock since Alisher Usmanov was sanctioned over the war in Ukraine, terminating the club's previous agreement with USM Holdings. While it is believed that Moshiri needs to find additional sources of income to fund the stadium build, it remains unclear whether there has been any further progress on putting the club up for sale or seeking a full takeover or substantial share purchase by new potential investors, be they American or from the Middle East. The last expression of interest from Minnesota-based real estate mogul Maciek Kaminski ended abruptly last July when Moshiri walked away from talks with the American investors, having "lost faith" in their ability to fund the buyout and cover the cost of Bramley-Moore Dock, despite subsequent unsubstantiated rumours that these talks had been revived last September. Article continues below video content In an apparent reference to this past interest, journalist David Ornstein told Rebecca Lowe on NBC Sports yesterday, "We do know that Everton have been reportedly in takeover processes but we haven't heard any developments on that front." Reader Comments (23) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer () Mark Ryan 1 Posted 07/01/2023 at 12:22:59 If the story is true that he was at the World Cup looking to sell the naming rights to Qatar Airlines then that's potentially good news, right? He wasn't outside Debenhams which is a good thing. [I'm just trying to look for positives.] Ray Roche 2 Posted 07/01/2023 at 13:01:48 That explains the meeting with the ‘mystery' Arab at the World Cup.Maybe. Barry Rathbone 3 Posted 07/01/2023 at 14:08:59 Now we're talking. Forget tactics, strategic reviews and boardroom handwringing if an oil state is in the first stages of getting involved we're on our way. Big "if" of course! 😃 Ray Mia 4 Posted 07/01/2023 at 16:37:10 They already own PSG... who have spent even more than Everton (and Man City and Man Utd and Real Madrid – combined) and have not won the Champions League. They have as little a plan as Everton has. The issue indeed is we don't have a plan. We don't need the Qatari Flight of Fancy Stadium; we need competent leadership. Even now, with 3 of 4 wheels falling off, we are not getting any communication, and there is no leadership from anyone in C-Suite. I feel sorry for Frank and the team – he needs resources now to buy 6-7 players – otherwise, we are going down. There is no point talking about the stadium if we only get to fill less than half of it in the Championship... Bill Gall 5 Posted 07/01/2023 at 16:53:44 I believe that the supporters of Everton should be given an opportunity to name the new stadium – the winner being given a ticket for a year for the best suggestion with a draw if a number of supporters all have the same suggestion.It's just a shame we have to rely on who has the most money and they are then allowed to name the stadium of a team they don't really support. Matt Henderson 6 Posted 07/01/2023 at 17:03:00 Bill,Without the money from naming rights, the Club wouldn't be able to partake in their only successful endeavour – buying dud players! Colin Glassar 7 Posted 07/01/2023 at 17:16:28 Quite right Ray 4, we’re a ship without a rudder. We’ve already wasted half a billion quid on mainly garbage. We need competent, knowledgeable owners who have a blueprint for success.I’d prefer SpaceX to buy us so at least we could sing, Fly Me To The Moon along with Ol’ Blue Eyes. Danny O’Neill 8 Posted 07/01/2023 at 17:22:11 It's a reality of investing in a modern stadium, I suppose. The Etihad, the Emirates.Bournemouth's Dean Court known as the Vitality. Brighton's Falmer Stadium known as the AMEX. Leicester's King Power (previously known as Walkers). A shame as I'd like to see something reflective of the club and the area personally.Then again, it's not a given. Didn't Newcastle flirt with St James' Park being branded as the Sports Direct but have to retreat? It's back to being St James' Park as far as I am aware.Manchester United and Liverpool haven't bothered, even though they could probably capatalise more than most. Stamford Bridge; it's Stamford Bridge. Tottenham have not bothered and West Ham's is the London Stadium although I guess that was part of the agreement for them inheriting the 2012 Olympic Stadium for about 10 pence.Bramley-Moore Dock would do me, but I suppose the reality of sponsorship and finances will kick in. David Currie 9 Posted 07/01/2023 at 18:26:08 Bill 5, What about calling it The Kenwright Stadium after our greatest supporter??? Joe McMahon 10 Posted 07/01/2023 at 18:33:25 David, Not a good idea naming it "The Bloated Tosser Stadium"! Matthew Williams 11 Posted 07/01/2023 at 19:16:04 It should be called "The Dixie Dean Stadium" and hold 60,000.It's that simple, folks... but even our board fucked that up!Tossers. Kieran Kinsella 12 Posted 07/01/2023 at 19:23:07 Danny,Tottenham have bothered. They've been actively seeking a stadium sponsor for 2 years. Which is why I'm skeptical of the £150M figure being quoted for Everton when there's a real danger of relegation. Anthony Hawkins 13 Posted 07/01/2023 at 19:41:10 Whilst this is fantastic news, I'd be concerned about conflict of interest with other Premier League clubs. Ray Jacques 14 Posted 07/01/2023 at 21:30:52 Qatar Airways... it will end up Easy Jet. Ray Mia 15 Posted 07/01/2023 at 23:03:16 Anthony @14 - please don't say you are confusing the Qataris and their Airline with the Emiratis who own City and Etihad (again Emiratis - UAE) who sponsor their stadium, or even Emirates Airline (again Emiratis - UAE) who sponsor Arsenal's Stadium - or even the Saudis who bought Newcastle. The Qataris don't own any club in the UK, and don't sponsor any stadium... they do however own PSG and Qatari Airlines used to sponsor Barcelona FC...The point being is there would be no conflict of interest with any other Premier League club because I think you may have confused all Arab countries as the same country... unless it was a genuine error – for which I apologise for pointing out that Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are different countries, but again that's okay, its a bit like an American who thinks Scottish, Irish and Welsh people are all English.Nationhood slurs aside…Whether we get a sponsor or not, it's pointless if the stadium – no matter how big and beautiful and finally happening – is going to have to be opened in the Championship.Lampard needs backing from the crowd and the boardroom.He needs to get in 2-3 strikers, a left-back and right-back, two creative midfielders and certain players need to be handed their contracts – bought out, so they can go find work elsewhere. Buying out contracts would be like signing new players.If the Qataris did sponsor the stadium, and they also funded the building, and they also bought a percentage of the club... we need a plan, and I don't mean how we play, like lazy pundits… (Did anyone listen to Alan Stubbs on BBC Radio Merseyside for the Man Utd game? I mean I have heard some bullshit in my time, but wow, he was special... at one point, he said we need 6 players, and then proceeded to talk about 11 different positions we needed upgrades in!) We are building a new stadium... remember that - we are moving out of Goodison next season, right? Me and my business partner have bought seats and a table at the new lounges... I mean – what's the plan? You know, for the football bit of the club – you know, the actual product... the playing games in the top flight and winning them – and (heaven forbid) winning silverware!! What are we doing?? Jerome Shields 16 Posted 08/01/2023 at 10:42:26 Rather than selling the Club it looks like Moshiri is looking for investors John Raftery 17 Posted 08/01/2023 at 12:52:00 A naming rights deal was always part of the financial plan for the new stadium. With the demise of the USM involvement the obvious next port of call was the Middle East. I doubt if there are many other realistic options. Paul Roderick 19 Posted 08/01/2023 at 16:23:09 Does any money from stadium naming rights count towards FFP so that it can be used on buying players? Clive Rogers 20 Posted 08/01/2023 at 16:48:39 Paul, 19, yes it does, but it’s only likely to be about £20M per year. Paul Kossoff 21 Posted 08/01/2023 at 22:56:38 This will cheer you up lads.https://youtu.be/5PtUkyV_GYY Paul Kossoff 22 Posted 08/01/2023 at 23:31:43 Name the stadium the Royal Blue Mersey Stadium. It will piss off the red twats for evermore. They will never get over that.😀👮 Clive Rogers 23 Posted 11/01/2023 at 09:22:55 They are talking £7m to £10m for the naming rights apparently. 24 Posted 28/04/2023 at 11:12:32 Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. How to get rid of these ads and support TW Find out how to browse ad-free and support ToffeeWeb © ToffeeWeb