© South Wales Evening Post - 3 September 2005
Talks aimed at finding a sponsor for Swansea's new £27 million sports stadium have proved fruitless, it has emerged. Nearly a month since it opened, hundreds of thousands of pounds in sponsorship from naming rights have still to be secured.
It was hoped that a company would stump up £250,000 to have its name linked to the stadium. However, all talks over naming rights have come to nothing.
It means it will have to stick with its official tag - The New Stadium Swansea - for the time being at least.It is known bosses are keen to secure a deal. Talks have been held with potential parties. But no deal has been reached.
Nigel Davies, the co-editor of Swansea City FC fanzine a Touch Far Vetched, today branded the situation "a joke''.
He added: "It is about time the council and StadCo agreed to drop this limp and lame name, The New Stadium. It's embarrassing for fans because it's already out of date.
"They should lower the asking price to attract a local company and revert back to the White Rock name."
Mr Davies said he believed the naming had already been left too late and unless the situation was sorted soon there would be a shortfall in the stadium's finances.
He said: "It is my understanding that the minimum they need to get is £100,000. If they do not make that there's a hole in the budget.
"There is also the issue of the experts they have hired to sell the naming rights.
"The wider media interest in the stadium has already been lost.
"We have had the first football game, the first rugby match, we even had an international here.
"I think they have totally missed the boat. ''
The Ospreys rugby club, which is a shareholder in the stadium's management company along with Swansea City FC and the council, has already broken ranks over the naming issue.
The three partners all agreed to the New Stadium name, saying that it would be easier to sell the naming rights.
However, the rugby club's own website now refers to the "Regional Rugby Stadium" at Morfa.
A spokeswoman for Swansea Council said: "A deal on the naming rights is a matter for the Stadium Management Company and any details of commercial discussions are confidential for obvious reasons.
"The Stadium Management Company will not undersell the stadium and will only sign up to the right deal, however long that takes."
