Manchester City today confirmed Eastlands will be renamed the Etihad Stadium after agreeing a 10-year partnership agreement with Etihad Airways reported to be worth £150million.
The stadium rebranding was just one of several commercial deals announced by City chief executive Garry Cook.
Etihad Airways, the airline owned by the Abu Dhabi government, has also extended its shirt sponsorship deal while the area surrounding the stadium will now be known as the Etihad Campus.
The agreement represents a significant boost to the club's attempts to comply with UEFA's financial fair-play rules which will apply from next season.
City are owned by Sheikh Mansour, one of the world's richest men, but a naming rights deal is considered vital to their plans to increase commercial revenues and become more self-sustaining.
The club's most recent financial figures showed losses of £121m and that figure is expected to be even higher when the next statement is published in October.
The naming rights deal could provide an early test for UEFA's FFP panel which require sponsorship deals with a party related to the club's owners to not significantly exceed the market value.
