The trend in many countries once upon a time was for grounds to be named after the architect that created the ground; the area in which the ground was located or a famous name associated with the club or footballing country.   Like club knicknames the stadium played a forefront role at the centre of the club its history and identity.     Amongst fans of a certain generation there has been has always been some form of emotional attachment to the original home ground of your club even if you are no longer residents.     Websites and blogs are often set up by fans using it as an opportunity to pay homage to a former home through photos, memories and thoughts. Similarly club homepages will often have permanent pages outlining the background and history of the club and most particularly paying reference to previous grounds.

Of course sometimes the re-naming or rebranding of stadia has been quite painless. Take Fiorentina's home ground in Florence, the former Communale, which became the Artemio Franchi Stadium in 1991.   The connotations are somewhat different to that of the former Müngersdorfer Stadion of 1.F.C Koln which suddenly metamorphosized into the Rhein Energie Stadion upon redevlopment.  

Worldwide, institutions like Universities, schools and airports have a tradition of granting donors the right to name facilities in exchange for contributions or famous name utilisation. Liverpool Airport is now John Lennon Airport whilst some of the newer established UK Universitities or former polytechics have used the name of a benefactor to brand the University and sell it to possible students as a place of learned behaviour.      This is where modern football differs as very few new stadium names pay homage to a former player or known figure of skill and technique.    Stoke City's new ground Britannia makes no reference to Sir Stanley Matthews in its title whilst PNE's ground is not the 'Tom Finney Stadium.' What does happen is that stands are named after former players instead of the whole ground.      Alternatively, a statue of a former legend will appear outside the ground rather than using the players name to tag the whole stadia.       As a mass public gathering place and media exposed outlet, securing the naming rights for stadiq is seen by companies and club owners as a form of advertsing and selling.    For the board of directors or a foreign owner there is very little profit in a new ground through naming it after a former legend.

In some places and especially in the UK, the naming or renaming of arenas is often met with disapproval from the general fan base of a club.   Younger fan groups such as ultras groupings often see it as an example of 'selling out' especially when they see no obvious benefit to themselves or the new title is detrimental or in contradiction to the integral historical fabric of the club.    Some fans at Schalke O4 still use the title AufSchalke to refer to the now Veltins Arena in Gelsinkirchen. This use of a semi non-branded traditional type reference to the home stadium is used in colloquial situations or on chat pages.    Whatever name is used the re-branding of stadiums has also led to confusion amongst supporters and the media.    The Stadium in Hamburg has changed names three times over the last 8 years.     In such cases there may be a lengthy period during which the property is known by a number of names and therefore previous sponsors thereafter gain free exposure and publicity.

The movement away from Highbury for many Arsenal fans was a step that had to be taken within the sphere of the modern Premiership and its onfield and off field demands but it has came at a price in terms of match day atmosphere.     The club has went from a fan base of 38,000 every week to 60,000. The tight cohesive feel of the older Highbury has now gone and the new Emirates has yet to see any trophy success for Arsenal. The newer ground opens up the match day experience in London to a whole host of newer fans and offers excellent viewing and comfort as well as massive revenue for the club but this alone does not win trophies for Arsenal.    Thierry Henry commented on the lack of match day noise at the newer ground but the older Highbury is now a housing estate all be it that the former main stand has remained due to its listed building status.  

This form of Stadium re-branding is essentially another aspect of how football has transitioned from a being a ordinary-man's past time and leisure activity to a major corporate family spectacle.     Older fans, by holding onto that previous identity and stadia name, are choosing a way of spurning a movement towards distroted modernity and business domination.    What has to be understood is that history and traditions play a forefront role in both a supporters affinity for his club and feelings of belonging.     Take for example the case of a new Liverpool stadium which has been touted as being tagged the Carlsberg Arena instead of New Anfield.    Similarly the plan of Everton to move to a new ground in Kirkby has seen public outcry and some outrage from many Everton fans with Goodison Park and its traditonal stands seen as paramount to the fabric and future success of the club.

Corporate logo usage is nothing new to football stadiums but it is has grown legs and fingers far in excess of its original aims.     In the seventies the interiors of grounds would be filled with football teamwear manufacters logos such as Bukta or Admiral. After this in the late seveties and early eighties team shirts started to be adorned with a corporate logo and name. Crown Paints appeared on Liverpool's shirt and Pioneer on Ipswich Town.    Across Europe, only Barcelona have refused to adorn shirts with a corporate sponsor choosing instead a partnership with UNICEF. Additionally it is highly unlikely that the Nou Camp will ever adorn the name of a corporate sponsor.      However, a closer look at Barcelona shows that they are not as anti-corporate branding as the shirt sponsor approach with UNICEF would suggest. Barcelona has massive sponsorship deals with Nike, Coca Cola and a number of beer manufacturers. In addition there are sponsorship deals with Caixa bank, Audi as well as a betting partnership with Bwin.

Why clubs choose to tout naming rights issues is naturally a lot to do with getting supporters in through the door particularly in England. Tottenham Hotspur have long played at the traditional White Hart Lane but its capacity of around 40,000 means that almost 22,000 potential fans are locked out each week.    With the Tottenham board pushing ahead with proposals for a larger stadium other sites for a new ground are being considered and land adjacent to the current home may soften the blow of a move to a new branded ground.      For clubs like Spurs there is very little such a club can make out of fans who are on a waiting list for season tickets at least in terms of match day income. This inturn seems to be one of the main reasons as to why clubs justify a move to a new ground and the auctioning off of the name helps with construction costs.  Whether it is all a matter of financial obligation to the board rather than a favour to those on the waiting list is open to debate.

Of course England is not alone and indeed branded stadiums in the country are not as common as they are in Germany.      Bayern Munich's newer Allainz Stadium was named after the financial services provider whilst across in Hamburg the redeveloped VolksparkStadion firstly became the AOL Arena but is now the HSH Nordbank Arena after it took over from AOL in 2007.   In 2013 the likelihood is that the ground in Hamburg will have another name after NSN Nordbank's rights run out.   Ironically during the world cup of 2006 neither stadium was able to retain its name as its does for Bundesliga or UEFA competition due to neither organisation being part of FIFA corporate sponsorship of the event.

The break off from traditonal ground to newer branded stadia has emerged in the Nordic countries with both positive and negative connotations.    In Sweden a chain of Ikea like Swedbank Stadiums has emerged both at national and club level and this looks like continuing. A similar movement towards branded stadia has occurred in Helsinki with HJK at the Finnair stadia in Finland's capital.    Possibly one of Europe's least fashionable footballing nations Finland has none the less produced a variety of class players since the early 1990's.   The development or at least appearance in Finland of individual star players says a lot for the development of the game in Finland and this trend seems to be continuing into branded ground development.

Unlike in Germany and England though most modern club and national team stadium infrastructure in Sweden and Finland still rests firmly in a traditional age.    The Swedish national team still plays its home qualifier matches at the ageing yet truly historical Rasunda Stadium in North Western Stockholm.      Opened officially in 1937 a stadium infrastructure has existed on the site since 1910 and was notable for the final game of the 1958 world cup where Brazil were inspired by the teenage Pele. Råsunda still only has a capacity of 35,000–36,608 depending on usage for club or national games; a moderate capacity for a nation that has continuously been successful in qualifying for World Cups and European Championships. Such is the dominance of the Rasunda it is home to the SvFF and the country's largest side AIK Solna who play there Allsvenskan home games at the Rasunda. With the home grounds of other Stockholm sides Hammerby IF and Djurgardens IF being small grounds holding no more than 15,000 each many cross city league derbies are played at the Rasunda even if AIK are not the home side.

Interiors of the Stockholms Stadion

Djurgardens IF are based not in the area of the same name in Stockholm but at the quaint and highly picturesque Stockholms Stadion. The stadium itself would appear to be highly unique in terms of modern football but against that is one of the reasons as to why the club are required to play European competition or bigger games at the home of hated rivals AIK. The ground is more resemblant of is a castle or listed historical site. Built for the 1912 Olympic Games it remains untouched by the needless destructiveness of modern grounds if only on the outside. Inside the ground feels like a step back in time with only the running track and playing surface hinting at modern day football participation. Outside, the ground appears more like a bullfight ring found in a Spanish medieval city with the castle like stadium perimeter walls and clock towers covered in ivy, bench seating and a small fence. Even when modernisation struck the ground in the 1950's, the 1990's saw movements to again replicate the look of the 1912 stadium. The result in general is a beautifully proportioned little football ground seldom seen anywhere else in European football.

Elsewhere in Stockholm a journey south easterly takes you to the home of Hammerby IF or 'Bajen' right next door to the landmark spherical ice hockey home at the Globen Arena. The Soderstadion holds little more than 15,000 and is more often than not half filled by the home supporters who are regarded as the most passionate in the country. Lacking the character of the Stockholms Stadion the ground feels like an English Blue Square league ground or like a Scottish lower league ground. One stand behind the goal is little more than a benched wooden area complete with both standing, seating and away fans areas. The ends either side of the playing area are basically terracing area with seats. Only behind the goal area where the scoreboard is does the ground have a modern look with office like creations on top of the sparse seating serving to dwarf any efforts at further growth.

Despite the traditional grounds Sweden has is no stranger to staging UEFA tournaments and with that has come UEFA demands for grounds with higher technical specifications. This in turn has seen naming rights issues being muted and indeed become a reality for newer Stadia in Sweden. The UEFA European Under-21 Championships are soon to be staged in Sweden with many games being staged at the newly constructed and modern Swedbank Stadium in Malmo.   On the plus side the ground looks and feels like a football only ground and has facilities that allow for a transformation from standing terracing to bench seating. Such a move will occur after the staging of the June event. Against this the ground holds less than the older Malmo Stadium used in the 1992 European Championships and has sold naming rights to Swedbank, E.On and Carlsberg. The ground is also not as multi-sport ready as the older Malmo Stadium was.

The Swedbank brand of chain stadia will soon move its name to the Swedish Capital. Soon a similar move to a newer Swedbank Stadium will occur in Stockholm; this ground being created near the older Rasunda in the Solna Municipality. The ground is far removed from the older Rasunda with a retractable roof, multiple sports specifications and high pitch quality recommendations. Just as in Malmo the stadium is named after the dominant domestic bank Swedbank who acquired the naming rights for 153 SEK around £13 million until 2025.

The tight compact stands at Finnair create a decent atmosphere

With the ground due for completion in 2012 it looks very likely that AIK Solna will be forced to play its home games at the ground although this has yet to be confirmed officially with negotiations still ongoing. With an average attendance of nearly 20,000 no other ground in Stockholm has the potential to hold AIK games. The royal family are often seen at the ground and they surely would demand such a theatre. Likewise AIK's famous 'Black Army' may find a new home at the stadia.       What is certain is that the Rasunda is to be demolished and the SvFF and national team will play home matches at the newer branded ground.      Similarly whether or not AIK Solna are the main tenant it would appear that all cross Stockholm derbies will be played at the newer branded ground whether these involve AIK or not giving it maximum exposure on television.

The movement away from the traditional Rasunda is further tarnished with adjacent construction around the newer national stadium. Alongside the new ground there will also be a number of hotels, restaurants, a 240 shopping mall and a parking venue for 4,000 cars. In addition a conference/exhibition centre is being created as well as 2000 flats. The extent of the project is highlighted further by the fact that the shopping mall is to be called the Mall of Scandinavia and is said to be the biggest shopping centre in the Nordic Countries.   The questions therefore remains as to whether the stadium or the shopping centre will dominate the new site.

Adjacent to the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki is the newer but much smaller Finnair stadium which is now the home ground of HJK Helsinki and hosts smaller games involving the Finnish national team.   Inaugurated in 2000 it has a capacity somewhat lower than the Swedbank ground of only 10,770 spectators but due to Finland's colder climate it has an artificial pitch of the highest quality that can be easily replaced by grass for UEFA competition. With football in Sweden being much the dominant sport the same cannot be said for football in Finland where snow sports and Ice Hockey dominate. Things are changing however with more young people taking an active interest in the game compared to previous generations. Whilst participation in football in Finland may not be enormous in numbers its position as a means of media interest and social standing is constantly increasing.     Champions League viewing is massive in the country amongst the young social strata and children.

A note of foreboding from the Black Army

Whilst most of the clubs in the main football league (Veikkausliiga) are professional some of the smaller clubs are semi-professional. Certainly the movement to the Finnair ground has helped HJK Helsinki as a club with the surroundings of the Olympic Stadium dwarfing what was ever required by the club. Through the movement to the Finnair stadium HJK have went some way to developing a football fan culture in Finland found in other countries. Whilst league average crowds have been lower than other Nordic countries, league games at the ground see HJK fan groupings create a good close knit atmosphere complete with flags, banners and fan displays far better than anything created at the older Olympic ground.

Despite the movement of HJK from the older Olympic Stadium to the newer trend of the Finnair, the older Olympic Stadium still sits proudly adjacent to the Finnair ground. The Helsinki Olympic Stadium/Helsingin olympiastadion is the only stadia in the country big enough to consistantly stage World Cup qualifiers of the national team. Overall it is a world class athletics venue with fantastic facilities for events but for football it would appear to lack the cohesive tight knit feel that a ground such as the Finnair Stadium can provide and generate in terms of atmosphere. What the Olympic Stadium cannot provide in terms of atmosphere it can in terms of viewing. Inside the ground it holds up to 45,000 whilst exteriorly the tower of the stadium is a distinct landmark with a height of 72 metres that is open for visitors and offers impressive views over Helsinki.

The movement to the branded Finnair stadia in Helsinki has generally been a positive thing for a club such as HJK. Whether the flattening of the Rasunda in Stockholm and the movement to the newer Swedbank brings the same benefits is open to question. What this trend does highlight is that even in countries where the club game has no mass audience or packed stadia the movement towards branded stadia is occuring all over Europe. With the issue of shirt sponsorship the time where football became business first and entertainment second was still some way off but Stadium naming rights programs have changed all that and point towards a newer thread of business dominance in even the smallest leagues.

In Europe as yet there are very few stadia with names as inappropriate as Pizza Hut Park or Dick's Sporting Goods Park both of which are found in the MLS but the fact that rights expire and are effectively up for auction at regular intervals to the highest bidder means that this type of branded stadia naming will be around the corner in Europe.    Moreover, the fact that some sponsorship deals have been for set periods of time and have an expiry date also shows that there is no direct evidence that these types of sponsorship programs help companies develop their long-term brand equity, share price but only provide a theoretical short-term exposure boost to corporate value.     The real benefits - via financial input over a set period of time - seem to be for the clubs benefit alone.

Most new stadia are bright, colourful and packed full of the best facilities.  At some of them you can utilise the best in tiolets, dine on high quality pies and watch the best of the first half highlights whilst having a cup of coffee.    But the fact that branded stadium expansion opens up the world of football to additional spectator numbers - and to many supporters who may not  previously have been able to see the game - should not hide the fact that the disappearance of grounds like the Rasunda Stadium in Stockholm is to the detriment of either the resident club and a nations footballing history and traditions.    Very few grounds seem to be rebuilt on original sites and with the original stadium design and fabric in mind.    Only two that have done this come to mind and these are Hampden Park in Glasgow and Wembley in London.   Ironically both of these grounds ended up with a crises of funding hinting that a branded stadia name may have averted such a scenario. 

The forthcoming creation of the newer Swedbank Stadium in Stockholm might provide a wider interested audiance with the opportunity to view home games of the Swedish national team.   But the fact that the ground will still be barely half full come your average Swedish eague fixture suggests that such a sell-out may not be entirely a good idea; at least for AIK fans.

Written by Bajen for V.I.F ©