Castore Everton kit deal has crucial element that will help solve £39m issue

While the announcement of Castore as Everton’s technical kit partner from next season may have taken much of the focus, the landmark element of the deal lay in what the new stadium was already starting to deliver.

At present, Everton are facing a challenging financial situation, with the remainder of funding required to take the 52,888-seater stadium to completion at a time when one doomed takeover bid from 777 Partners collapsed, and when majority owner Farhad Moshiri is now speaking with other potential new owners.

Quite which way Moshiri heads, with significant interest from a number of parties, remains to be seen, although Dan Friedkin now seems to be the frontrunner But with the Blues likely to have to sell some playing assets in order to remain compliant with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules that hit them so hard last year, and with very limited funds for summer spend, it will be another campaign where manager Sean Dyche will have to go to the well once more.

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But while the new stadium may have at some points been seen as a millstone around the club’s neck, and its build has resulted in significant debt built up it will eventually be Everton’s road back to normality and, hopefully, significant growth and success.

Castore’s deal saw them become the club’s first ‘founding stadium partner’, a commercial offering the Blues have never had the benefit of before, one that sits below stadium naming rights, which the club are still looking to sell, and allows brands access to greater stadium marketing opportunities in a multi-purpose venue that will be in use all-year round.

That is a compelling proposition for brands who want greater visibility from their partnerships, and more ways to activate on them. The new stadium will benefit from the regeneration of that area of Liverpool’s waterfront, with the venue also benefiting from improved transport links. It will be one of the countries leading stadiums, one that can play host to events outside the football calendar in one of the world’s most culturally significant cities.

The accounts for the 2022/23 financial year showed a 23% fall in commercial revenue, from £50m to £39m. That fall was attributed to a decline in advertising and sponsorship year on year of £16m, although there was a £5m increase in other commercial activities such as improved central payments from the Premier League and tours to the USA and Australia.

Goodison Park has been the beloved home of Everton since 1892, but at a time when stadiums across the world have become more sophisticated and created greater opportunities to add new revenue streams to impact the bottom line, it has been something that has hamstrung the club’s growth in comparison to some of their rivals.

A new stadium brings a blank canvas for commercial possibilities, something that will be of significant interest to would-be owners who will see the value that such an asset can provide to the football club’s balance sheet and also its value creation for the club as an asset in the future. One of the first things new owners, often from North America, tend to look at is the current stadium situation and how best to maximise the club’s biggest single tangible asset.

Speaking at the Leaders Week Summit in London back in October, Everton’s chief commercial and communications officer, Richard Kenyon spoke on the importance of the build.

“First and foremost it is a football stadium, and when that vision was set out years ago it was always going to be, number one, a footballing fortress,” said Kenyon.

“That is something that we wanted as a club, it is something that Goodison is famous for, but we also looked at it from research from our fan base, which was to keep the best things about Goodison Park. So, the best things about Goodison Park as anyone will tell you is when the atmosphere is going it is incredible, and that is due to how close you are to the pitch and how steep the stands. That was principle number one and the design has reflected that, the stands are very steep and the venue is tight when you get inside.

“Among the other principles were doing things quite differently, so creating more choice around general admission seating, but really it was a venue that we wanted to be used on non-match days as well. We have a fantastic fan plaza, which can host tens of thousands of people on a match day. It will be a fantastic experience on a match day but it is also something we can use on a non-match day.

“On a non-match day there will be some of the best dining experiences in the city. It will certainly be used for concerts in the bowl, but also in the fan plaza. There is a tremendous opportunity to tap into the rich musical history and the vibrant events programme that the city has.

“It really is another cultural asset for the city as well as just a football stadium for Everton. It is also something that we are keen to have for a community benefit. It is important to use our venue to benefit the communities around us because there is a lot of deprivation in North Liverpool. This venue being open 365 days a year will help us achieve those objectives as well.”

The Castore deal is the first real tentpole in terms of the new stadium’s commercial potential, and more are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, with the club continuing to talk with interested parties over the naming rights of the new stadium.

It is something that provides some hope for the future in terms of growth prospects, but how that is delivered will depend on who Moshiri chooses to sell the club to, and whether the operational expertise in a new ownership group exists to make sure that the opportunity is leveraged to its full potential. If it is, Everton’s commercial revenue should see a sharp rise over the next five years from its current position to put it back to its previous position as the biggest outside the so-called ‘big six’.