The new home of Republic of Ireland’s international rugby and football teams will be named Aviva Stadium after the insurance company agreed a 10-year, $44 million naming rights deal with its owners.
The Irish Times newspaper reports that the chief executive of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) Phillip Browne said at yesterday’s announcement of the naming rights deal that he hoped the new stadium would host the Heineken Cup final in 2011.
“At the end of the day,” The Irish Times quotes him as saying, “it is up to the board of the ERC [European Rugby Cup] but we have not had a final here since 2003. I think our time is due and 2011 seems to be a bloody good time to have it.”
Football Association of Ireland (FAI) chief executive John Delaney said the revenue from the Aviva deal was “crucial” to the funding of the €411 million project to build the stadium, which replaces Lansdowne Road as the venue for Ireland rugby and football matches.
As part of the deal Hibernian Aviva, the Irish arm of Aviva, will receive a 50-seat corporate box at the new stadium as well as a significant number of seats for major events.
The stadium is planned to open in August 2010 when the FAI intends to stage a high-profile international friendly, most likely against Argentina.
