Newcastle United handed sponsorship deal boost amid new Premier League rule changes

Amendments to the Premier League's Associated Party Transactions [APT] rules show changes made to rules regarding 'fair market value' sponsorship deals and shareholder loans. 16 top-flight clubs pushed through amendments to the APT rules and shareholder loans back in late November, with Newcastle joined by Aston Villa, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest in voting against the proposals at a shareholders' meeting in London.

The top flight have insisted those rules - in place to ensure all commercial deals with companies linked to a club's owners are independently assessed to establish they are of fair market value - were introduced to provide a 'robust mechanism to safeguard' the 'competitive balance' of the league. "The purpose of the APT rules is to ensure clubs are not able to benefit from commercial deals or reductions in costs that are not at fair market value by virtue of relationships with associated parties," read a Premier League statement.

New amendments on the back of last month's vote show APT rules will revert to how they were before sweeping changes were pushed through in February of this year, with clubs no longer needing to detail their sales process around sponsorship agreements - in turn placing the burden on the league to determine a deal is not meeting fair market value criteria.

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Requirements for clubs to detail whether a prospecting process took place, whether the club engaged an agency in the process and releasing details of how many brands the club approached for the deal - among other requirements - are just some rules to be deleted from Appendix 18 of the Premier League's rules, according to football finance expert Stefan Borson on X.

Newcastle, in particular, have significant interest in any changes to rules around sponsorship agreements. The St James' Park hierarchy are constantly striving to bolster the club's coffers with extra revenue streams, with outside investment key to helping Newcastle on the pitch.

The Magpies have been helped with lucrative agreements with Sela and Adidas in recent months but there is still appetite for a training ground, training kit and potentially a naming rights deal to be struck.

“Everyone thinks that because some clubs have a training ground sponsor that they fall from the trees. You have to pick the right partner, get the right values, the right fit and it takes time," Chief commercial officer Peter Silverstone said earlier this year. "But obviously, my job and the job of the team behind me is to maximise the opportunity in every area, whether that’s retail, whether that’s media, whether that’s membership, whether that’s retail, whether that’s partnerships.

"We’re looking at all opportunities. I’m aware of what everyone thinks should or shouldn’t be sold. I also know what we are working on and trying to deliver. I’ve worked in sports, marketing sports, sponsorship for over 20 years.”

Other rules appear to have been amended to ensure any loan from a direct or indirect shareholder now has to carry a fair market interest rate and cost. At present, Newcastle, along with Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Southampton, have taken no director loans - but Everton are said to owe north £450m, while Brighton's owner Tony Bloom is owed just shy of £400m from the Seagulls.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester and Bournemouth are also believed to owe more than £100m to their shareholders, according to The Swiss Ramble. Meanwhile Liverpool, Wolves, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Fulham have racked up loan debts of less than £100m.

Discussing November's vote, football finance expert Kieran Maguire told the Price of Football: "The whole thing is a mess and we're still awaiting the final judgement of the commission itself so you put that all together and it's a fairly sorry state of affairs.

"I've been monitoring Premier League meetings for years upon years and normally every vote would go through 20 to zero and even when it goes 19 to one, a few years ago, you would think, 'Oh yeah, that's a bit rebellious'. Now it's a 16 to four, which is a very resounding victory as far as the Premier League is concerned, but that's seen as being some sort of norm, which is evidence of the decaying relationship between clubs in the Premier League."