Newcastle United could potentially see their typical revenue from merchandise sales increase by up to £10million next summer.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who expects fans to be desperate to get their hands on club products featuring their new badge.
This comes after the Magpies finally settled on their new crest after a two-year consultation with their supporters, with the new design set to come into effect from next season.
Wyness believes that the club have handled the process perfectly to ensure that the fans are on board, and are now set to reap the rewards moving forward.
The fans made it clear that they did not want to see dramatic changes made to the current badge, and that verdict has been upheld with the new designs.
The club wanted to make the logo simpler and more digitally friendly, so the new design features slightly simplified changes to the current effort.
Newcastle deserve praise for consultation process
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Newcastle’s board deserve praise for the way that they have handled the change in badge of late.
The Scottish businessman has previously suggested that changing a club’s crest is one of the most thorny possible issues at boardroom level, given the connection that fans have to a club’s heritage.
However, speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness outlined that he has no doubts that Newcastle went about it in the right way.
“When you educate the fans as to why you’re doing this, and it isn’t just for change’s sake, then you get the fans on board,” he said.
“Now what you have got now is a new crest, and of course that could probably lead to about another £10m of new merchandise sales, as fans want to keep up to date with the new logo.
“So great, well done. As I say, it’s a small thing that would appear to be a small thing, but done very well. And it’s spoken volumes about the way they’ve included the fans well.”
Newcastle ‘favourites’ to sign Tyler Morton
Wyness told Football Insider earlier this week that Newcastle are the long-term “favourites” to sign Lyon midfielder Tyler Morton, amid links of a return to the Premier League.
The 23-year-old is a former graduate of Liverpool’s academy, and could soon return to English football after a brief stint with Lyon.
Wyness believes that Newcastle are likely to beat Nottingham Forest to Morton’s signature next summer, as they line up another refresh of their midfield options.
Morton made 43 appearances for Lyon in all competitions last term, and also impressed during their Europa League campaign.
