English rugby union's iconic Twickenham stadium in London is to be renamed as the Allianz Stadium, through a major tie-up between the Rugby Football Union (RFU) governing body and the global insurance firm.
The change will be enacted from September, the RFU announced yesterday (August 5), and will add Twickenham to the list of other sports venues (now up to eight) to which Allianz holds naming rights.
Stadiums in Munich (for soccer heavyweights Bayern Munich), Turin (Juventus), and Sao Paulo are included. It represents the first naming rights tie-up in the English venue's history.
This comes as an expansion to a previous deal between Allianz and England Rugby, through which the brand has acted as the team’s official insurance, investment, and asset management partner for the last four years. In addition, the brand is also the title sponsor of the Premiership Women’s Rugby top-tier league.
Indeed, another element of the new Allianz-RFU tie-up involves the insurance firm providing significant investment into women’s rugby union across England.
The stadium naming rights could be worth over £100 million ($127.1 million) across 10 years.
The national rugby stadiums in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, have all seen similar naming rights deals struck with brands - but Twickenham, which as a name is synonymous with English rugby union, had managed to avoid such a rebranding up to this point. For this reason, the RFU’s decision is likely to prove highly unpopular amongst some fans.
The RFU has been on the hunt for outside investment for the 82,000-capacity Twickenham, which has hosted England fixtures since 1909, and also stages music concerts.
Bill Sweeney, chief executive at the RFU, said: “We’re really pleased to be expanding our partnership with Allianz, enabling further investment into the community and professional game. This is an opportunity to celebrate our stadium’s proud legacy while developing it for the future.
“Over the coming years, the RFU and Allianz will work together to enhance visitor experiences and provide fans and local community with the best possible match day and event experiences.”
In terms of marquee upcoming fixtures, Twickenham will host the final of the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup, which will take place across England.
Aside from the Munich, Turin, and Sao Paulo venues, Allianz also holds naming rights to stadiums in Sydney, Minnesota (US), France, and Austria.
In terms of recent sports sponsorship activity, Allianz and the Football Australia governing body unveiled a multi-year tie-up in late July.
The first game at the new Allianz Stadium will take place on September 14, as England’s women's team plays world champions New Zealand.
