The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which took over three years and £1 billion to build, threw open its doors in 2019. A further three years on and a ground that was always intended to move with the times remains very much in its original guise.
That is of little concern to those that occupy plush Premier League surrounds in domestic and continental competition, with Spurs boasting a home of which they can be immensely proud. A venue to rival any in world sport – including another not too far away in Ashburton Grove – now sits at the heart of north London. It was, however, supposed to be called something else by now, and that will be frustrating those looking to balance books behind the scenes. Rushing into an agreement of any sort is rarely a wise decision, but patience is being pushed to breaking point when it comes to a naming rights saga.
Spurs have spent countless hours, days, months and years painstakingly hunting for the perfect partner to warmly welcome through the doors of an expensively-assembled abode. Talks will have dragged long into many a night, while statistics aplenty will have been scoured in a bid to ensure that a big call is ultimately the right one. They cannot blame a shortage of information for the lack of progress, with the modern world dripping with tools that are intended to make such selection processes easier. The calculated risk element of a big decision such as this has been removed, partially at least, by the wealth of data now available.
Football has embraced this new approach as much as any other sector as the review mechanisms that exist elsewhere in the entertainment industry are being replicated on a sporting stage. The function that allows informed calls to be made on which film to watch, console game to purchase or online bookmakers to visit has far-reaching benefits, from expert opinions to guidance on deals and customer service. These are also just some of the factors that the big wigs at Tottenham are possibly considering a little too carefully.
In the pipeline
Tottenham are dealing with brands at the very top of the business food chain, with talk of Nike or Amazon getting involved doing the rounds. Due diligence is to be applauded, though, and a giant of English football is wise to avoid rushing into deals that will be worth millions over a prolonged period of time. No imminent announcement appears to be on the cards, with reports coming out of north London stating that it “doesn’t appear as if anything is close right now but the club have certainly spoken to various interested parties over the years and continue to do so.”
Naming rights for one of the finest stadiums on the planet remain a work in progress for now, with seemingly no obvious end in sight, but an agreement will be reached at some stage that promises to stand all concerned in good stead. Spurs just need to make sure they do not get stuck in a lengthy pipeline of their own making.