Premier League lifts temporary ban on owner-related sponsorship deals

A temporary ban on owner-related sponsorship deals in the Premier League has been lifted, the PA news agency understands.

The block on such transactions was imposed in October and backed by 18 top-flight clubs following the Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle.

A working group of club executives, which included Magpies director Amanda Staveley, was set up to look at ‘associated party transaction regulations’ and those rules have been agreed at a shareholders’ meeting on Tuesday.

It means owner-associated sponsorship deals will be permitted, provided they are deemed to represent fair market value. Remuneration of players and staff via owner-related entities are also covered by the new regulations. Any such payments must be properly disclosed.

The ban was extended on November 26 to allow the working group to finalise its proposals.

Staveley spoke about the impact of the temporary ban last month.

“This moratorium was so difficult for us. We’ve really taken a big battering. And so I’m hoping that we’ll get this lifted as quickly as possible,” she said.

“The moratorium was a shock. We did not expect that to happen. How could you imagine that all commercial deals would be off?”

The club took down Sports Direct signage from around St James’ Park last week, a hangover from the regime of previous owner Mike Ashley.

PA understands decisions on fair market value will be taken by the Premier League board, following a three-part process.

The board will take advice from an independent assessor, listen to the club’s own assessment and also look at an anonymised data bank of similar deals before making a judgement.