Bolton Wanderers make major sponsorship announcement on stadium name and kit

The club has confirmed a bumper new sponsorship deal is currently being discussed which would kick in at the start of the 2023/24 campaign.

The town’s university has held the naming rights since August 2018, replacing sportswear manufacturers Macron. The stadium is often colloquially referred to as “The UniBol” by players and supporters.

But Wanderers CEO Neil Hart has confirmed that the deal will end next summer, after which a new name will be above the door.

“Commercial and sponsorship revenue for this football club is really important,” he said.

“We have spent a lot of time looking at our offers for what I call the big ticket items – i.e. stadium naming rights and front of shirt and then the layering down of all the other opportunities.

“Mike Pink (chief commercial officer) and his team have done all the work on that and we are now in a really good place to make a call.

“On stadium naming rights, we have an arrangement with the University of Bolton, which I have to say has been a fantastic partner and we have worked with them on a number of different levels – that won’t change in the future, it will always be the case.

“The University of Bolton Stadium will remain in place for the forthcoming season and we are working on securing a longer-term partner at increased rates. That work is ongoing and it will continue into the 2022/23 season.”

Bolton-founded sportswear giant Reebok had sponsored the stadium between its opening in 1997 and 2014, having previously held the longest kit sponsorship association in British football.

It has also been confirmed that the current shirt sponsorship deal with Home Bargains has now ended – and a new name will adorn this season’s kit.

“We will have a new front-of-shirt sponsor for the new season,” Hart said. “We are just crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s on that one at the moment.

“On behalf of Sharon (Brittan) and the board we’d like to thank Home Bargains, who have been fantastic partners over the last three years. But we will have a new partner in place soon on significantly enhanced terms, which makes sense for the club commercially and we’ll be communicating that in due course.”

Liverpool-based Home Bargains initially linked up with Bolton part way through the 2019/20 season, shortly after Football Ventures had bought the club out of administration, and also opened a store on Middlebrook in 2020.

Fans are now waiting to hear news of the new kit designs for next season, which will be released later in the summer.

The details are still under wraps – but Hart has confirmed that a long-term deal is in place with Macron as manufacturers.

“The deal works and they have done a really good job with the kit,” he said.

“We have what I think are really smart designs for the home and away kits for the forthcoming season – I can’t say any more than that at this stage – but I am hoping our supporters will really love them. The board love them, we love them, I think Macron have produced some great work.”