Lansdowne to be known as Aviva Stadium
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The FAI and the Irish Rugby Football Union have agreed a deal with Hibernian Aviva, Ireland’s largest insurance company, which will see the new €400m stadium currently being built on the site of the old Lansdowne Road being called the Aviva Stadium.
Hibernian Aviva have secured the naming rights for a ten-year period. Details of the sponsorship were unveiled today at a function in Dublin.
Work on Aviva Stadium, which will hold 50,000, commenced in May 2007 with the demolition of Lansdowne Road. The stadium is on schedule for completion in April 2010. It is expected that the first rugby and soccer games will take place there later in the year.
Commenting on the deal, John Delaney, chief executive of the FAI said that the FAI was looking forward to working with Hibernian Aviva on strengthening football grassroots programmes which encourage participation in the sport among children and young adults.
He added that the recent announcement that the 2011 UEFA Europa League Final would be played at the Aviva Stadium is a fantastic start for the partnership. “It really is a tremendous endorsement of just what is being achieved. I think it is fair to say that everyone in UEFA could see the potential of what we are developing. One has only to think of some of the other stadia that were in line for the Final to see just how world-class the facility we are building is going to be.”
