Major Championship football club selling stadium naming rights… on LinkedIn

Championship football club Queens Park Rangers is selling the naming rights to the stands at their Loftus Road stadium on the professional networking site LinkedIn. The second division club, located in the UK capital, is offering sponsors the chance to have their brand displayed as part of the visual backdrop during matches. Currently, four stands at Loftus Road have names, with only one being sponsorship related.

Among these stands is the members' area, the Bhatia Stand named after former shareholder Amit Bhatia, and the Stanley Bowles Stand after a legendary club player from the 1970s. The club's away fans enjoy the Achilleus Security Stand. The club's LinkedIn post suggests that this deal goes beyond typical stadium advertising, stating that the sponsor's company name would become a part of the stadium itself.

The second tier football market in London is quite competitive, with other notable clubs including Millwall, Charlton, West Ham, and Watford in the lower divisions alongside the Premier League teams. The club emphasizes that the sponsorship package would encompass not just the stand, but also areas like ingress, egress, concourses, hospitality, and other agreed stadium assets.

This arrangement would provide sponsors with the opportunity to entertain clients, prospects, employees, and key business partners at the Loftus Road Stadium during matchdays, with prominent branding visible throughout the venue. One LinkedIn user suggested that the best way to undertake this sponsorship would be to rename the stand after former player Les Ferdinand.