New Scottish Rugby Chief: Traditional Home Would Still Be 'Something Murrayfield' under Naming Rights Deal

The Scottish Rugby Union, the sport’s national governing body, will consider a naming rights deal for the national stadium at Murrayfield in Edinburgh as part of a review of possible new sources of income, Mark Dodson, its new chief executive, has said.

Dodson told The Scotsman newspaper: “We have inventory here that we’ve never used or put out there, and one of the things we’re looking at in the first quarter of next year [2012] is to look at our inventory across the piece, both at [professional] club level and international level, attaching values to that and seeing what it is we want to sell. We might not sell the naming rights to Murrayfield, but we may. Everything is possible.”

A naming rights deal for Murrayfield, long the spiritual home of Scottish rugby, is likely to be regarded as controversial, and Dodson added: “It would still be ‘something Murrayfield’. It is not a new stadium like the Emirates [home of Arsenal of English soccer’s top-tier Premier League], that started off as the Emirates.

“This will always be Murrayfield, but I believe there will be people who would want to attach their name to this, and that would create a value.”

Two of Dodson’s predecessors, Phil Anderton and Gordon McKie, also considered such a move, but could find no takers at the price they wanted to charge.

Date - Jan 2012

FBD extend Connacht League tie-up

The Connacht Council has confirmed that FBD Insurance has renewed its sponsorship of the Connacht League for another year.

For the first time, London will be taking part in the tournament as will three third-level colleges. The action gets underway on Wednesday, 4 January, with Sligo taking on NUIG and Galway facing Sligo IT. Both matches will be played at the Connacht Centre of Excellence.

The winners will travel to the United States in October for a match against New York.

Date – Jan 2012