A club raised on brown ale and majority-owned by a dry kingdom’s wealth fund has signed a champagne house. A £10m hospitality refit explains why.
Newcastle United has signed Taittinger as its ‘Official Champagne Partner’ on an undisclosed multi-year deal, bringing Reims fizz to a ground that once stood beside the brewery making Newcastle Brown Ale.
Taittinger Brut Réserve and Prestige Rosé will be served in St James’ Park’s premium suites, executive boxes and at select club events, alongside Domaine Evremond Classic Cuvée, the English sparkling wine the champagne house makes in Chilham, Kent.
Mills Easby, Taittinger’s UK director, described Newcastle as “a club that is not only an icon of English Football but one that sits so solidly as the beating heart of the North East.”
And Dave O’Connor, Newcastle’s Chief Revenue Officer, said: “Their decision to partner with us is a reflection of the ambition we have as a club and our commitment to consistently raising the bar.”
From Broon to Brut
Newcastle Brown Ale was brewed next door to the ground from 1927 until 2005 and is now made by Heineken in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, which means the city’s signature drink and its new English fizz both arrive from out of town.
Beer still dominates the concourses, where Molson Coors has held pouring rights for Carling since 2007 as the club’s longest-standing partner and Guinness has been served since signing a global deal in August 2025.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns 85% of the club alongside the Reuben family’s RB Sports & Media on 15%, answers to a country that has banned alcohol since the early 1950s and only opened its first liquor shop in decades, for non-Muslim diplomats, in Riyadh in January 2024. This hasn’t stopped PIF appearing on the same sponsor list as Taittinger at Formula E, though.
Premium pours, premium seats
Newcastle spent £10m on hospitality over the summer, refurbishing the Chairman’s Suite and The Magpie and refitting 22 executive boxes, while extra safe standing lifted capacity to 52,719. Because the ground sells out and is hemmed in by the city centre, the club cannot add many more seats and has to earn more from the ones it has, as it did when the Rooftops suite opened in 2023 at £650 per person per match.
Deloitte’s 2026 Football Money League ranked Newcastle 17th with revenue of €398.4m, up 7%, though the previous edition put its 2023-24 matchday income at €68m against €123m at Tottenham Hotspur.
Brad Miller, Newcastle’s Chief Operating Officer, has said the club’s stadium scheme must “provide an investable return and not least deliver strong revenue growth to increase our PSR headroom.”
Taittinger gives the refurbished suites a name worth printing on the drinks list, and its money carries no link to the owners. Premier League rules require sponsorships with owner-associated businesses to reflect fair market value, something a family-run house from Reims has no need to prove.
As for Taittinger, the drinks brand has been FIFA’s ‘Official Champagne’ since 2013 under an agreement running to 2030, holds a separate Club World Cup deal to 2029 and also partners the Haas Formula One team.
