Newcastle reach sponsorship deal with Saudi company Sela

Reports emerged on Wednesday informing about a soon-to-become-official deal between Newcastle United and Saudi events company Sela for the latter to become the main kit sponsor of the club starting next season.

According to a report published by Craig Hope of the Daily Mail, Saudi company Sela are “the frontrunners to secure a deal” to appear on the shirts of Newcastle next season, and the announcement might be made official soon with the agreement “not expected to break new Premier League rules.”

Newcastle could have actually agreed to a “multi-year deal” with Sela already, reportedly worth “around £25m per season.”

Sela, a Saudi events company, would therefore become the club’s main shirt sponsor replacing Fun888 as the latter company is expected to break all relationships with NUFC for good as soon as this summer. Hope wrote that discussions “have been taking place with several potential sponsors in recent months,” although everything points toward Sela becoming the final partner NUFC have picked to feature in their chests.

Based in Jeddah, Sela was founded as an event company in 1995. According to a source close to the deal talking to Hope, the main reason behind agreeing to a partnership with Newcastle is “part of a long-term strategy to invest overseas,” contrary to what most haters out there would believe and blame Newcastle for (wrong)doing.

Sela have more than £1b in annual revenue, so ponying up £25m per season to appear in the shirts of one of the most prominent clubs in the largest football league in the world, well, is not quite a gamble nor an investment the Saudi folks couldn’t afford.

The Saudi company Sela also helped to stage the Italian Supercoppa and the Spanish Supercopa on Saudi soil in recent seasons, so it can’t be said that they are entirely new to world football having already dipped their toes into soccer waters in the past.