Páirc Uí Chaoimh could join long list of sponsored stadia
Páirc Ui Chaoimh is at the centre of a debate across county Cork over its potential renaming. Picture: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
The potential renaming of Cork's iconic Páirc Uí Chaoimh stadium has led to furious debate across the county.
There was outrage over plans to rebrand the stadium as SuperValu Páirc, as first reported by the Irish Examiner. Tánaiste Micheál Martin was among those to express opposition to the plan.
Following a behind-closed-doors meeting of county board delegates on Tuesday night, Cork GAA confirmed talks with SuperValu would continue.
If a name change does come to pass, the Páirc will join a long list of famous stadia to have seen brands take control of their name.
We'll start with the most obvious Irish example, coming in the capital.
The plan to demolish the old Lansdowne Road which was home to the Irish rugby and soccer teams was launched in 2004, with the stadium itself coming down in 2007.
While the international sides headed to Croke Park on Dublin's northside in the intervening period, we got our first look at the 51,000-seater stadium in 2010.
Aviva signed a 10-year deal in 2009 for naming rights to the new stadium which was built on the site of the old Lansdowne, a deal they renewed until 2025.
If the stadium wants to host major soccer tournaments run by UEFA (as it did in 2011 and will again in 2024 with the Europa League final), it will be called the Dublin Arena, as Uefa does not allow sponsorship agreements for their major tournament stadia.
For more than a century, FC Barcelona refused to feature paid sponsorship on the front of their jerseys.
However, that changed in the 2011/12 season, when the Qatar Foundation appeared on the iconic blue and garnet stripes.
Within a couple of years that had become Qatar Airways, but the name of their iconic 99,534 capacity home was never changed.
That was until March 2022, when it was announced that Spotify had reached a deal with Barcelona to acquire the naming rights to the stadium in a deal worth €310m.
At the time of writing, the stadium is being redeveloped and expanded with an expected re-opening in time for the 2025-26 season.
Sticking with millionaire football clubs, the 2002 Commonwealth Games saw the need for a new stadium to be built in Manchester to go alongside Old Trafford and Maine Road, the homes of Man United and Man City respectively.
Thus the City of Manchester Stadium was opened in July 2002. The following year, Man City moved into the stadium from Maine Road after agreeing to lease it from the local council.
Similarly to Barcelona, the stadium was renamed the Etihad Stadium by the club in July 2011 as part of a 10-year agreement with the team kit sponsors Etihad Airways.
Stoke City made their Premier League debut in 2007 playing their home games in the Britannia Stadium.
Built in 1997, with help from a £1m, 10-year sponsorship deal with the Britannia Building Society, the club was renamed in 2016. The club is owned by the bet365 Group.
Similarly to the Aviva Stadium, it is known as the Stoke Ground in European competition due to Uefa rules.
Not all stadium renames last that long — just ask Newcastle fans.
Prior to their takeover by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, they were owned by Mike Ashley, with whom the fans had a tumultuous relationship.
That relationship soured even more in 2011, when the club changed the name of the stadium from St James' Park to the Sports Direct Arena — sharing a name with Mr Ashley's sports retail company.
However, the club confirmed that this was an interim name to showcase the sponsorship capabilities of the stadium.
Wonga.com bought the rights to name the stadium a year later and restored it to St James's Park.
The national stadium of Wales, the Principality Stadium began as the Millennium Stadium, named due to it being built for the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
In 2016, it was renamed as the Principality after a 10-year naming rights deal was agreed with the Principality Building Society.
In October 2012, the Scottish Rugby Union's chief executive Mark Dodson said that it would be "crazy" for them not to try and monetise their home of Murrayfield.
Sure enough, in 2014 they got their "right price" when BT took over the naming rights.
The partnership ended in 2023, but that summer the SRU struck a deal with Scottish Gas to have their name featured in the Edinburgh venue.
In January, Munster's Cork home underwent a name change with Musgrave Park becoming Virgin Media Park
Originally named after Jimmy Musgrave (a former president of the IRFU), the broadcasting and broadband company announced the stadium name news last Wednesday.
CEO of Munster Rugby, Ian Flanagan, explained: "Given how special Musgrave Park is, and the meaning it has to Munster Rugby and our community in Cork, we feel the new link between the venue and Virgin Media will work really well. We look forward to working with Virgin Media on maximising what we do at this iconic rugby, sports and community venue over the coming years."
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