is likely to add, in Eales’ words, at least “£45m to the bottom line” and that figure will balloon if they can escape the group stages, with each home match day worth £1m or more to the club.
Those are transformative figures but it is what being part of the elite competition does to the club’s profile and brand that is energising those inside St James’ Park the most. On Friday morning, there will be tangible proof of that when a new kit deal with Adidas is confirmed that brings Newcastle back into line with some of their direct rivals.
It represents the club’s biggest-ever commercial deal and is worth “nine figures and hundreds of millions of pounds” according to one person with knowledge of the terms agreed.understands are a raft of sponsorships that are in the pipeline. Innovative training ground and stadium partnerships are also being worked on to add zeros to a bottom line that needs to grow at the same rate as the team.