Club must go for the money

IT will be interesting to see how Dundee FC fans react to the prospect of historic Dens Park being rebranded as part of a sponsorship deal (see page 9).

Tradition is a big part of football and supporters can be fiercely resistant to change, generally driven more by their passion for their team than any desire to block its progress.

The reality for most clubs in Scotland is that the revenues they generate at the turnstiles and from TV money are very small when compared with the cash flowing into Europe’s top leagues.

But even some of the continent’s biggest names – Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Arsenal are three examples – have sold naming rights to their stadia and made the income from these deals part of their business model.

None of that trio seems to have suffered at all from associating their grounds with airlines and banks.

Closer to home, Premiership new boys Livingston play their home matches in the deliciously-named Tony Macaroni Stadium.

The club’s owners have taken a pragmatic and hard-headed decision aimed at boosting its coffers and are likely to find that promotion from the Championship, and the home games against the bigger clubs that will bring, makes any future naming rights packages more valuable.

Do any of their fans really yearn for the time when they were outside Scotland’s top flight but were at least still playing in a stadium called Almondvale?

Dundee FC’s plans to rename Dens Park may prove controversial, but if the club sees opportunities to improve its finances and build for a brighter future, it really has to grasp them.