Barclaycard to step away from Arena naming rights

BARCLAYS is to end its sponsorship of the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham as the bank continues to review its commercial partnerships.

It will end its long-standing sponsorship of the FA Premier League this month after 15 years as title sponsor, which cost it £40m a year.

The bank has seen its share price fall by more than 40% in the last nine months – reducing its market value by more than £20bn – and last week reported a 25% fall in first-quarter profits.

Now its review of its sponsorships has resulted in it choosing not to renew its five-year partnership with the National Indoor Arena.

The naming rights deal began in 2012, when the venue became known as “NIA, A Barclaycard Unwind Experience”, before it rebranded as the Barclaycard Arena in December 2014 after a £26m redevelopment.

Weeks later, LDC completed its £307m deal to buy the NEC Group, which includes the Arena, the National Exhibition Centre and the International Convention Centre.

Barclaycard’s naming rights deal will run to early 2017 and the brand may continue its partnership with the venue in a smaller form. London agency The Sports Consultancy has the exclusive rights to market the venue, alongside the NEC and ICC, with it initially developing the value proposition of the naming rights before it goes to potential partners.

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