Better to sell the name than sell the jerseys
What’s in a name?
For Rangers, the answer is simple – cold, hard, vital cash.
That’s why their training ground – formerly known as Murray Park – will now be called The Hummel Training Centre.
Some people scoff about the way football clubs sell their history and traditions off to the highest bidder these days.
But as far as I’m concerned, punting naming rights is fair game.
If rumours are to be believed, Rangers are splashing millions on Steven Gerrard’s wages.
They need to raise money on top of that to give their new manager the kind of transfer war chest he needs.
So why not auction off the rights to their training ground?
After all, football clubs have only got so many ways to make money for themselves.
And a club like Rangers, who are playing catch-up with their financially much better-off rivals, need to take advantage of every opportunity.
To be honest, if the chance to punt the naming rights for Ibrox came along, I’d be stunned if they didn’t snatch at that, too.
If it puts an extra few million in the coffers, they’d be daft not to. Celtic are in a far better position. But if a company came along offering mega money to slap their name on Celtic Park, I’d encourage the Bhoys’ bigwigs to bite their hand off.
Truth be told, I’ve never called Celtic Park by that name anyway. It has always been – and always will be – Parkhead to me. And that’s the point. Replace the name “Ibrox” with a corporate branding if you like – Gers punters will still call the place by its traditional title.
We saw that in Newcastle when Mike Ashley renamed St James’ Park as The Sports Direct Arena.
Did anybody in Tyneside actually call it that? Of course not.
Will anybody in Glasgow call Rangers’ training ground The Hummel Training Centre? No chance.
But if the Gers can pocket some cash for playing along with the charade, why not do it?
They aren’t the only ones at it in Scotland, let alone around the world.
Dundee have just rebranded Dens Park as The Kilmac Stadium at Dens Park.
Then you have St Mirren’s ground now called The Simple Digital Arena, Partick Thistle play at The Energy Check Stadium at Firhill, while Livingston strut their stuff at The Tony Macaroni Arena.
Each and every one is a fair mouthful, that’s for sure.
But in the cash-strapped world of Scottish football, you cannot knock clubs for creating money-making opportunities for themselves.
And they’re taking their cues from the biggest clubs in the world.
The likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Juventus and Bayern Munich play in stadiums named after global businesses.
Doing so earns them hundreds of millions of pounds every year.
But it doesn’t matter what size of budget you’re operating with, the principle is exactly the same – take advantage of what you’ve got to offer businesses.
That means your profile, the media coverage you get, and the names associated with your club.
Rangers are not the first club to do it – and they won’t be the last.
And if it secures Stevie Gerrard a player or two to close the gap on Celtic, even the traditionalists among the Gers support will get over it.
You can bet Ibrox Stadium on that!
In the cash-strapped world of Scottish football, you can’t knock clubs for trying everything