The Football Association are apparently close to confirming a deal believed to be worth £10m per season to change the name of the FA Cup to the Emirates FA Cup.
While the competition has been sponsored before, it has never featured a renaming of the competition, for example when Budweiser last sponsored the FA Cup in 2013 it was referred to as the "FA Cup with Budweiser", and before that the "FA Cup in association with E-On". Nobody sponsored the competition for this current season, as Budweiser elected not to renew their deal, which has perhaps forced the FA's hand for next year.
While many traditional football fans will be disgusted with one of the game's oldest competitions selling their soul as it were, the real question that must be answered here is what becomes of the prestigeous and much respected Emirates Cup, which takes place in Arsenal's Emirates stadium every pre-season?
The Emirates FA Cup? It just doesn't sound right at all.
via The Guardian.
