IN DEFENCE OF TIGERS GROUND NAME CHANGE
ONCE again this week Leicester Tigers’ new(ish) CEO Andrea Pinchen pulled off a coup for the club in selling the naming rights to the Welford Road stadium, which will now be known, for the next five years, as Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
Of course, there will be some that object to monetising the asset that is the home of the Tigers, and it is true that the stadium will always be Welford Road to most fans, but the reality when times are hard is that it would be perverse not to take advantage of any income that presents itself. Indeed, it could be asked when the club have been losing money steadily over the past eight years or so why the step hasn’t been taken sooner.
The negotiations have been well handled and hopefully the club has got a lot of money in the deal.
Certainly it is impressive that they have managed to retain the words Welford Road in the name of the venue. Had I been on the other side, I might have held out for the Mattioli Woods Wealth Management Arena!
Whether it will be enough given the financial travails reported by the club is, of course, the big question.
Ms Pinchen is on record as saying the club is losing £1 million per month during the Covid enforced restrictions, and there is little sign of those restrictions ending quickly, and not much sign, in spite of supporters lobbying MPs, that government assistance will be quickly forthcoming.
Whether that figure refers to actual loss or income below the expected level isn’t entirely clear, but either way it isn’t an ideal situation for any company to find itself in.
So, are the Tigers in trouble? That depends what that means.
It’s difficult to see an insolvency event – the company’s debts are, relatively speaking, low at £8 million with a 20-year term and high assets with the stadium valued at about £50 million before shareholdings are considered. The biggest outgoing (players’ wages) has reportedly reduced by 25 per cent and there has been a further 18 per cent drop in the head count.
Our board of directors and major shareholders (beyond just Tom Scott and Peter Tom) are worth well over a billion combined and no further share issues have yet been mooted.
However, if a big money overseas investor came in, they may be able to convince the custodians on the board that they may be good for the club.