Sunderland admitt Stadium of Light could be sponsored
Mar 17 2010 by Luke Edwards, The Journal
“They’ve been a real good friend of ours and we have a timeframe where we’ll know by the end of the season exactly where we’re going.”
With a wage bill of almost 80% of their annual turnover and losses of £26m for the last financial year, transfer spending covered by owner Ellis Short, Sunderland are trying to increase their revenue streams wherever they can.
An extra 10,000 people on the gate is the most obvious vehicle available to them, although Quinn has defended the Black Cats fanbase despite them failing to fill the Stadium of Light to its capacity.
That was one of the main selling points when Quinn persuaded Short to take control of the club last year and he is still confident it is an obtainable target.
He explained: “We wouldn’t complain, but we just hope that people see fit to put us higher up their list of priorities.
“The stadium being full every week hasn’t happened yet, but if we had been heading to the League Cup final instead of Aston Villa, when we missed four penalties on the night, you would have seen that bit of success and the extra 10,000 we know are there would come.
“In our last few home games – Fulham brought 192 people. The one before that there was 200 and something against Wigan and 300-odd against Bolton.
“That is 600 away supporters for our last three games. That is where we are feeling it. In the past it would have been 3,000 or 4,000.”
That argument was backed by Walton, who urged people to look at the bigger picture in the Premier League as attendances have dipped across the country.
He said: “You have got to step back. We have got the sixth best gate in the Premier League. There are only the top four and Manchester City ahead of us. We have a better gate than Aston Villa, whose gate actually fell this year slightly.
“And we are the furthest away of anyone. It takes three hours for us to get to the nearest match for us.
“Plus we don’t have the advantage of having any home derbies. So our average gate took a hit because Middlesbrough and Newcastle are not in our division.”
