August 20 – Stevenage FC have handed naming rights to their home ground to SPORTA, with the League One club’s stadium becoming the SPORTA Arena from the start of the new season. 
 
The deal makes Stevenage SPORTA’s flagship football partner and gives the financial services start-up its most visible platform as it works towards becoming a fully authorised UK bank focused on sport. 
 
SPORTA, founded by ClearBank co-founder Andrew Smith, is currently applying for a UK banking licence. The company wants to build financial products specifically around clubs, athletes, supporters and other parts of the sports industry, although no regulated banking services are being launched through the Stevenage agreement. 
 
The club will effectively act as SPORTA’s first football case study, giving the company a live environment in which to understand how clubs manage cashflow, planning, digital systems and wider operational pressures. 
 
The longer-term aim is to use those lessons to shape how SPORTA supports other league clubs, grassroots organisations and individual athletes in managing their finances more sustainably. 
 
The two sides will also work together on community projects, digital development and content around Stevenage’s 50th anniversary season. 
 
SPORTA chief executive Andrew Smith said: “Stevenage FC is exactly the kind of Club that shows why SPORTA exists. It is ambitious, innovative, community-led and built around people who care deeply about the Club and the town it represents. 
 
“This is a long-term partnership about working with Stevenage FC to understand the financial and operational needs of a modern football Club operating in an evolving and often fragmented ecosystem.” 
 
Stevenage chairman Phil Wallace said: “This is far more than a naming rights agreement. From our very first conversations it was clear that SPORTA shared our vision, our ambition and our desire to make a positive impact beyond football. The naming of SPORTA Arena reflects the scale and ambition of our partnership.” 
 
The new name will make its competitive debut when Stevenage stage their first home League One fixture of the season on Saturday. 
 
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]