Wembley Stadium To Enter Naming Partner Deal With Mobile Brand EE

Mobile brand EE is “set to be the naming partner of Wembley Stadium,” according to John Reynolds of MARKETING magazine. The FA is “hoping to raise around” US$12.8M a year “from a commercial deal.” Sources said that EE is “close to signing.” The deal “will not mean that the Wembley name is given over to a corporate sponsor as the FA believes this would alienate fans, but it is likely to mean that EE will form part of the name, such as ‘Wembley in association with EE.’” The FA has been “on the hunt for a lead commercial sponsor since the new Wembley Stadium was opened” in ‘07. A deal between the FA and EE “would mark EE's first foray" into soccer. However, its Orange and T-Mobile brands “have a heritage in the sport” (MARKETINGMAGAZINE.co.uk, 11/28).