Manchester Arena close to naming deal
A new sponsor for the 21,000-seater Manchester Arena is expected to be announced in the coming weeks, with South Korean electronics giant LG understood to be the frontrunner.
The arena, which joins on to Victoria Station, has not been sponsored since Phones 4u went into administration at the end of 2014. Manchester Evening News previously held the naming rights for 13 years from 1998 until 2011.
Alongside LG, restaurant company Pizza Express has also been rumoured as a potential sponsor.
Securing the naming rights for the arena would equate to a multi-million pound deal.
Manchester Arena is operated by SMG Europe on behalf of owner Mansford Real Estate. The property includes a 128,000 sq ft office and a multi-storey car park.
All parties were unavailable to comment at the time of publication.
It doesn’t matter who the sponsors are, it will always be known as the MEN Arena – just one of those things!
By MancLass
It will always be known as NYNEX
By Jonty
Hmmm…when it was originally NYNEX Arena, the extractor system beneath in Victoria ( an essential part of the design once the concrete shell for the Arena above curtailed adequate ventilation of the platforms ) was operating. it went off the day MEN plastered it’s tabloid name all over the Arena- never to be restored…..Naming rights, be they arenas or sports stadiums, may be one of the most vulgar aspects of the world we live in today, but I couldn’t care who wants their name on it, like all advertising it’s all meaningless lowbrow corporate posturing and visual pollution- just as long as someone switches the diesel fume extractors below back on!
By Cassandra
That’s interesting Cassandra – as anyone who has walked through that corridor from the car park to the footbridge over the platforms will be able to confirm how strong the smell of diesel fumes is/was… can’t be good for health breathing that in regularly.
By Cart-parker
It’s OK, Volkswagen did the emissions tests
By Jonty
Just noticed the other contender – the Pizza Express Arena? The PEA?
By Jonty