Newcastle chief speaks out on 'best in class' stadium dream and PIF 'ambition'
Newcastle United's owners remain 'extremely ambitious' to become the 'best in class'.
That is according to Peter Silverstone, Newcastle's chief commercial officer, at a time when the Magpies remain constricted by PSR rules. Newcastle will announce record-breaking revenues north of £300m when the club's latest financial accounts are eventually published, but the established order generate far greater sums, which, obviously, enables these sides to spend more on transfer fees and wages.
There are a number of areas still open to Newcastle to boost income streams - securing a training kit sponsor, for instance, has long been a priority - and the club hope to reach a decision on their long-term stadium plans next year in an effort to one day increase match day revenues. For context, in the last set of published accounts, Newcastle generated £47m in commercial revenue and £37.9m in match day income; Spurs, in contrast, raised £227.7m and £117.6m respectively in the same period.
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It is going to take Newcastle time to bridge that gap on Spurs - let alone a club like Manchester City - but the ambition at the top remains.
"We have an extremely ambitious ownership group in the PIF and the Reuben family," Silverstone told the Global CSR Forum. "That ambition exists in every fanbase and every club. Every fan of any club in the world wants their club to be competing at the top of Premier League and European football and that requires the club to evolve and develop to satisfy those demands which, on the pitch, lead to investment and that investment then comes from maximising the opportunity.
"It just so happens that the investment from an ownership perspective is met by achieving sporting goals as well. So by the fans pushing the team, the ownership pushing the team and the team within the team also pushing forward, we're trying to meet that ambition, which is to be best in class, to be at the top of the game, and how do you do that? You come back to sponsorship as revenue or stadiums for revenue. You need to be best in class when you do that and you need to look at all the pillars of sponsorship, which is exposure, awareness, consideration, purpose, driving those deals, but it all comes from the ambition to be best in class."