Boost to Levy’s £400m hunt for stadium sponsor

NFL do not pay a staging fee and the bidding process is akin to that for a World Cup or Olympic Games, with the NFL making an onerous list of demands of their hosts on issues such as parking, hotels and tax exemptions. Putting on the Super Bowl would be a huge boost for Tottenham’s global standing however, while even an unsuccessful bid could raise their profile in America and help the club’s attempt to find a naming-rights partner. Tottenham have been unable to agree a naming-rights deal since their £1bn stadium opened three years ago despite considerable interest, with chairman Daniel Levy holding out for an offer worth about £400m over 20 years. The biggest obstacle to Tottenham’s ambitions would appear to be London’s time zone, which would necessitate a very late kick-off in order to suit the domestic American TV market, which could lead to objections from Haringey Council. The Super Bowl is America’s biggest TV event of the year with viewing figures of more than 100 million and US advertisers would need reassurances that such numbers would not be jeopardised. Tottenham will face competition from other venues if the NFL do opt to take the Super Bowl abroad, with sources indicating that Stadium Australia in Sydney would also be interested. While regular-season NFL matches have yet to be held in Australia the time difference is more suitable, with an afternoon kick-off in Sydney hitting prime-time American TV audiences. The NFL have been seeking a bigger international audience for the sport for several years and London has long been the prime focus of their expansion plans. They contributed an initial £10m, plus further payments for maintenance and upgrades, to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The ground is the first purposebuilt NFL stadium outside the US and has an artificial American football field underneath a retractable grass football pitch. Tottenham will again host two matches this autumn, while the Jacksonville Jaguars will also bring one of their ‘home’ games to Wembley, as revealed by Sportsmail last month. NFL comissioner Roger Goodell announced last night that Germany will begin staging one game per season this year. Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena will host the first match, before alternating with Frankfurt until 2025. Mexico will also host a game this year. Tottenham are also understood to be negotiating with the NFL over extending their 10-year staging agreement. The club have missed out on three games — the stadium was not ready in 2018 and two 2020 matches were cancelled because of the pandemic — and talks are ongoing over whether to sign a two-year extension with the NFL or negotiate a new deal. A Tottenham spokesperson said that the club do not comment on commercial matters.