Barcelona has Spotify, Bayern Munich and, er, England Rugby have Allianz, and Arsenal Emirates. Now Everton Football Club has unveiled an exclusive sponsor for its new Bramley Moor Dock home: Hill Dickinson.
A top-50 law firm may be an unusual choice for a Premier League stadium’s naming rights, given legal businesses have traditionally sponsored nothing more grand than a terrace at a Combined Counties League Premier Division side.
The announcement was a great opportunity for the suits to dig out the marketing lexicon, with Everton chief executive Angus Kinnear proclaiming: ‘This partnership goes beyond branding – it’s a shared commitment to progress, excellence and the regeneration of our city.’
But will it stick? One-word names for new stadiums have tended to be the most successful in terms of penetrating the fan psyche (think Reebok, JJB and Etihad). The Hill Dickinson Stadium doesn’t trip off the tongue quite as well. The pitfalls of a bad name are well known: few if any Newcastle fans embraced the Sports Direct Arena, while Obiter’s occasional trips to see York City in the past were at Bootham rather than KitKat Crescent.
Another potential hazard might be club allegiance. Leeds and Liverpool fans loudly declined to purchase their Hi-Fis from Japanese electronics giant Sharp after it sponsored Manchester United. Glasgow’s Celtic and Rangers, meanwhile, neatly bridged a bitter divide by using the same shirt sponsor for years.
Obiter quite likes inventive coinage ‘the Dixie’ for the blues’ new bowl. This nods to Hill Dicks but also namechecks incomparably prolific Everton striker Dixie Dean, who still holds the record for the most top-flight goals in a single season. Mo Salah? Who he?
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