Turkish club Besiktas signed a record contract for the football in Turkey. They signed a 15-year sponsorship deal with mobile phone company Vodafone, which will fill their accounts with 145 million dollars.
Moreover, the name of the stadium “Inonu” will be changed to “Vodafone Arena”. More specifically, the current arena will be demolished and in its place will be built another stadium, which will have a capacity of 40,000 seats.
Club president Fikret Orman and Vodafone CEO Gokhan Ogut announced the agreement between the two parties. “It is not only the largest sponsorship deal in the history of Vodafone in Turkey, but also the largest contract in Turkish sports history,” said Ogut.
Thus the business exceeds in importance the agreement between rival Galatasaray and Turk Telekom, company that pays around 130 million dollars in 10 years. Following the same pattern, and Galata changed the stadium name to promote the brand of their generous sponsor.
Because the current arena of Beşiktaş will be demolished and the new building will take about a year, the team coached by Slaven Bilic will play their home games at the “Recep Tayyip Erdogan” stadium Kasimpasa’s home. But the derbies will be held on Ataturk Olympic Stadium.
“Our priority is the stadium. We want to finish it soon and get back home next season,” said Fikret Orman. Following this agreement, Beşitkaş will print the name of Vodafone company on the equipment, but the jerseys will be modified only next summer, when the committed with Toyota, the current sponsor, will expire.