Rules around Associated Party Transactions clarified as Newcastle United potentially stand to benefit

Last month Newcastle United along with three other Premier League sides voted against the new proposals around Associated Party Transactions in the wake of Manchester City's tribunal victory over the Premier League.

Newcastle, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest voted down the new propositions but they weren't enough to stop them from passing through with the other 16 clubs voting in favour.

Now, the details of the changes have been made public and it feels like a return to rules before Newcastle United's takeover which was the catalyst for the changes in the first place.

It was the blind fear that the PIF could inject billions into Newcastle by means of over-inflated sponsorship arrangements, so the Premier League made it so every deal had to reflect fair market value and club's had to ensure that before they made any deals.

Newcastle United have been leaving money on the table for three years waiting for changes to the rules

As reported by The Chronicle, requirements for clubs to detail whether a prospecting process took place, whether the club engaged an agency in the process and releasing details of how many brands the club approached for the deal, among others, have now been removed from the rulebook, giving clubs a much clearer path to implementing sponsorship arrangements.

This could be massive for Newcastle given how many companies are at least part-owned by the Saudi Arabian PIF and could potentially partner with Newcastle.

Three years into the PIF's ownership and Newcastle still don't have a stadium sponsor, a training ground sponsor or training kit sponsor all of which could be potentially very lucrative deals.

The PIF can now get on with acquiring big partnerships

It has often felt as though the board have been waiting for things to change in their favour and while it clearly wasn't the outcome they were hoping for given that they voted against these proposals, it's definitely a move in the right direction.

Hopefully, now the club can move on and create some new partnerships that bring in significant revenue to help with Profit and Sustainability issues.

Whatever the club decides regarding St James' Park, if it will indeed build a new stadium, the club will remain where they are for a few years while the new stadium is built, so there's still value in partnering up with a big company for naming rights in the meantime.