Football Finance guru Kieran Maguire has now revealed that Tottenham Hotspur will not be sweating about the departure of Todd Kline as he was not a popular figure at the club.
Kline joined as Spurs’ chief commercial officer in early 2021 after stints with NFLs sides Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins as well as working at AEG and within sports talent and property sales.
Earlier this month, Matt Law confirmed that the American had resigned from the North London side and been placed on gardening leave, and is now set to join London rivals Chelsea.
Football.London’s Alasdair Gold subsequently revealed that Kline had been brought to Spurs primarily to find a naming rights partner for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
However, the journalist explained that the club decided to delay that process due to the unexpected benefits that accrued for the Tottenham brand as a result of keeping the generic name while hosting big events at the venue such as NFL matches and music concerts at the venue.
Todd Kline will not be missed at Tottenham
Maguire is a little bewildered by Chelsea’s decision to task Kline with finding a naming rights deal for Stamford Bridge since he failed to achieve the same at Spurs.
Maguire told Football Insider: “If Todd Kline is tasked with a naming rights deal at Chelsea then good luck to him. There wasn’t a long queue of people at Spurs wishing him a fond farewell given his somewhat abrasive personality.
“So it seems a strange decision by Chelsea because he had more than one job but the most important and significant job he had – he failed to deliver.
“Stamford Bridge is Stamford Bridge and it will always be called that to diehard Chelsea fans. Therefore, sticking a new name on the front of it won’t be very beneficial financially.
“They might get a few words in the media about a Nike Stamford Bridge or Apple Stamford Bridge but it won’t be common language used by fans. We’ve seen at other clubs that it only tends to work when sponsors are associated from day one.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Todd Boehly would have likely had a relationship with Kline, given the latter’s work in the NFL and the American corporate sphere. It seems like Boehly is digging Chelsea into a deeper and deeper hole with each of his decisions, which is certainly delightful to watch as a Spurs fan.