Corinthians close in on naming rights deal to ease debt pressure

By Samindra Kunti

May 19 – Brazilian club Corinthians are closing in on a naming rights deal for their stadium, but which could maintain the name ‘Arena Corinthians’.

The club’s state-of-the-art stadium Arena Corinthians hosted six games during the 2014 World Cup, including the opening game between Brazil and Croatia and the Argentina vs Holland semi-final, but the bill for the stadium’s construction bloated from bloated from a provisional $356 the million to $513 million.

Ever since the World Cup, Corinthians have been seeking to finance the stadium through increased gate revenue and selling the naming rights of the stadium, but that aim has proven difficult to achieve.

“Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United get a lot of money through gambling and betting,” said former club president Andres Sanchez. “If we do that here, we’d get arrested, it’s forbidden. There is a lot of hypocrisy in the country. 40% of Real’s revenue comes from betting.”

“The agreement on naming rights is close to conclusion,” continued Sanchez. “The club president will announce it in the next few day. We will decide on the name as ‘Arena Corinthians’ or a name chosen by the fans.”

He didn’t disclose the precise details of a supposed agreement, but spoke of it as “innovative” and “needs to be copied by other Brazilian clubs.”

In the past Corinthians have repeatedly stated that they were close to doing a naming rights deal, so it remains to be seen if this time around an agreement will materialise.

Corinthians are Brazil’s biggest club with a fan base of 35 million people. Last weekend Corinthians were held to a scoreless draw at home by Gremio in the opening weekend of the Brazilian top flight.

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