Premier League bank on new sponsors
The Premier League's drawn out search for new sponsors was due to come to an end today as club chairmen met in London to choose a replacement for Carling.
Barclays are favourites to land the £40 million, three-year, title sponsor-ship although they face competition from two other companies. Banking rivals HSBC and mobile phone giants Vodafone have also been linked to a possible bid.
Following weekend meetings with officials from the three companies, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore was hoping to present his favoured bidder to the chairmen at their monthly meeting in London this afternoon.
Scudamore is seeking a replacement for lager brand Carling after parent company Bass pulled out in January. The league infuriated the brewing company after they stalled on accepting their £39m offer to extend their eight-year relationship.
Now it seems certain that whoever becomes the new sponsors will not be paying much more than the bid Carling tabled more than six months ago.
The chairmen could also be on the verge of removing Chelsea chairman Ken Bates as one of the league's four representatives on the Football Association's 12-man executive board.
Although the FA board want Bates removed for the angry public attack which followed his resignation from the Wembley project in February, it is up to his 19 fellow Premier League chairmen to decide whether they want him to represent the league.
The FA voted 9-3 in favour of making the request last Thursday but it could be that no vote is taken until the Premier League's summer meeting later in the year.
